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//.  a.9  .  /€ 


/•  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  *^ 


Purchased   by  the   Hamill   Missionary   Fund 

SV  3700    .P5~ 


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THE  PICKET  LINE 
OF  MISSION 

Sketches  of  the  Advanced  CuArd>#.«j,^>|  v 


BY 


w.  F.  Mcdowell  j.  t.  gracey 

A.  T.  PIERSON  S.  L.  BALDWIN 

JENNIE  M.  BINGHAM  W.  F.  OLDHAM 

MARY  LOUISE  NINDE  W.  H.  WITHROVV 


WITH   AN  INTRODUCTION  BY 

Bishop  W.  X.  NINDE 


NEW  YORK:    EATON   &    MAINS 
CINCINNATI:  CURTS  &  JENNINGS 

1S97 


Copyright  by 

EATON  &  MAINS, 

1897. 


The  General  Cabinet  of  the  Epworth  League,  who  select 
the  books  for  the  Epworth  League  Reading  Course,  thereby 
commend  the  general  thought  contained  in  them.  They  do 
not  wish,  however,  to  be  held  responsible  for  every  detail 
of  treatment  and  statement  which  may  occur  in  the  volumes, 
EDWIN  A.  SCHELL, 

General  Secretary. 


Contents 


PAGE 

Introduction ^. 5 

By  Bishop  W.  X.  Ninde,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


s/'  I 

David  Livingstone^. 23 

By  W.  F.^IcDowell,  D.D. 

y 

Alexander  M.  Mackay,  the  Hero  of  Uganda 67 

By  J.  T.  Gracey,  D.D. 

Ill 

The  Hon.  Ion  Keith-Falconer,  Pioneer  in  Arabia  117 
By  Arthur  T.^ierson,  D.D. 


SiA  Sek  Ong.  .  . . y, 151 


IV 

By  S.  L."^Bald\vin,  D.D. 

V 


John   Kenneth    Mackenzie,    Medical   Missionary 

TO  China .^ 185 

By  Miss  Jennie  M.  Bingham. 

v^  VI 

James  M.  Thoburt^. 211 

By  W.  F.  Oldham,  D.D. 
8 


Contents 

/  VII  PAGE 

Mary  Reed ^C 245 

By  Miss  Mary  Louise  Ninde. 


VIII. 

Polynesian  Missions  :  John  Williams,  the  Martyr 
OF  Erromanga  ;    John  "Hunt,  the  Apostle  of 

Fiji ^ 277 

ByW.  H.  Withrow,  D.D. 
4 


Untrobuction 


We  here  present  for  our  Reading  Course 
a  book  which  we  trust  will  inspire  the  hearts 
of  all  Epworthians  with  a  freshened  enthu- 
siasm for  Christian  missions.  Nothing 
seemed  more  likely  to  effect  this  than  to 
bring  our  young  people  into  close  touch 
with  the  hearts  and  life  work  of  a  select 
number  of  our  noble  missionaries,  some 
sainted,  others  still  living.  While  some  of 
the  characters  here  sketched  are  not  as  famil- 
iar as  others  that  might  have  been  chosen, 
yet  each  one  is  truly  heroic,  and  the  writers 
were  well  fitted  for  their  task,  all  by  genuine 
sympathy,  and  some  by  long  and  intimate 
acquaintance  with  their  subjects.  We  are 
sure  that  the  book  will  well  repay  a  careful 
reading. 

The  wonderful  century  just  passing  has 
been  called  the  age  of  Protestant  misvsions. 
It  is  true  that  the  modern  missionary  move- 
ment began  a  little  before  the  dawn  of  this 


Introduction 

century,  but  the  great  mission  boards  have 
been  formed  and  the  work  of  missions  vig- 
orously pushed  within  that  period.  How  it 
stirs  the  heart  to  read  of  the  trials,  labors, 
and  achievements  of  the  unbroken  line  of 
devoted  missionaries  along  the  tide  of  a 
hundred  years? 

In  1 760  Voltaire  rashly  predicted  that  the 
opening  of  the  nineteenth  century  would 
witness  the  extinction  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion. About  that  time  was  born  William 
Carey,  ' '  the  morning  star  of  modern  mis- 
sions," which  have  since  borne  the  standard 
of  the  cross  into  every  land  in  the  wide 
world. 

For  many  years  after  the  dawn  of  the 
modern  missionary  movement  the  visible 
rCvSults  were  scanty  and  discouraging.  The 
interest  of  the  home  churches  was  feeble  and 
faltering,  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  heroic 
devotion  of  godly  men  and  women  who  felt 
themselves  specially  called  to  labor  in  these 
distant  and  difficult  fields,  and  whose  self- 
sacrificing  zeal  kindled  anew  the  flickering 
flame  of  missionary  interest  among  the 
Christians  of  favored  Europe  and  America, 
all  effort  to  convert  the  heathen  might  have 
been  abandoned  or  indefinitely  postponed. 


Introduction 

The  marked  success  of  the  missions  to  the 
Sandwich  Islands  and  some  of  the  South  Sea 
Islands  put  a  new  heart  into  the  movement 
for  the  world's  evangelization.     The  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church,  relieved  somewhat  of 
the  pressing  demands  of  the  home  work,  en- 
tered with  its  accustomed  vigor  upon  the 
mission  work  abroad.    Our  first  missionaries 
to  China    sailed  for  that  distant  land  just 
fifty  years  ago,  and  planted  our  first  mission 
in  the  treaty  port  of  Foochow.    The  first  ten 
years  was  a  rayless  night  of  unrequited  toil. 
At  the  end  of  that  period  the  first  converts 
were  baptized,  and  since  then  the  mission 
has  expanded  with  marvelous  growth,  em- 
bracing flourishing  fields  in  South,  North, 
Central,  and  West  China,  with  the  prospect 
of  still  greater  conquests  in  the  near  future. 
Ten  years  after  entering  China  our  mis- 
sion was  organized  in  British  India.      It  was 
successful  from  the  start,  and  its  evangeli- 
zing progress  of  late  years  has  been  phe- 
nomenal   and   most   gratifying.     Our  mis- 
sions are  now  spread  over  most  of  the  vast 
peninsula   and    have    all    the    elements    of 
prodigious  strength  and  efiiciency. 

Protestant   missions   in    Japan    followed 
the   treaty   which     opened     up     that   long 


Introduction 

sequestered  empire  to  the  commerce  of  the 
Western  world  and  allotted  to  foreigners, 
under  cumbersome  limitations,  certain  priv- 
ileges of  residence  and  travel.  As  recently 
as  1869,  Bishop  Kingsley  made  the  first 
Episcopal  visitation  of  our  own  missions  in 
Eastern  Asia.  We  had  no  mission  in  Japan 
at  the  time,  but  on  its  way  to  China  the 
bishop's  steamer  touched  at  Yokohama  in 
Japan.  He  went  ashore,  and  found  a  Pres- 
byterian missionary  who  told  him  there  were 
probably  not  more  than  eight  native  Chris- 
tians in  the  empire.  There  are  now  five 
Methodist  Boards  operating  in  Japan  with  a 
numerous  and  efficient  force  of  missionaries 
and  native  preachers,  and  a  large  clientele 
of  native  members  and  adherents.  A  con- 
siderable number  of  the  native  preachers, 
and  of  the  teachers  in  the  mission  schools, 
were  educated  in  this  country. 

More  recently  our  mission  was  planted  in 
the  Kingdom  of  Korea,  once  termed  the 
*'  hermit  nation,"  but  now  surpassing  almost 
all  other  heathen  countries  in  its  kindly  wel- 
come and  treatment  of  foreigners  and  es- 
pecially of  Christian  missionaries.  No 
mission  in  the  list  makes  a  more  grateful 
showing  of  rapid  and  substantial  progress 


Introduction 

than  that  which  cultivates  so  well  this  lim- 
ited but  most  promising  field. 

Our  historic  mission — the  one  first  planted 
and  manned  by  our  Church — is  that  of 
Liberia,  on  the  western  coast  of  Africa. 
When  the  American  Colonization  Society 
purchased  that  wild  territory  and  deported 
thither  some  thousands  of  free  Negroes, 
many  of  whom  were  members  of  our  Church, 
our  duty  seemed  imperative  to  provide  them 
with  the  Christian  ordinances.  It  was  also 
hoped  that  our  Liberia  Mission  would  sooner 
or  later  prove  the  gateway  of  the  Gospel  to 
the  inaccessible  millions  in  the  interior  of 
the  *'  Dark  Continent."  That  mission  was 
for  years  a  keen  disappointment  and  partial 
failure.  Large  appropriations  were  ab- 
sorbed by  the  mission  with  scanty  results. 
The  explorations  of  Livingstone  and  Stan- 
ley and  the  formation  of  the  Congo  Free 
State  afforded  the  long-coveted  opportu- 
nity to  reach  the  interior  of  the  continent 
with  the  priceless  blessings  of  the  Christian 
Gospel.  The  hour  for  a  grand  advance  had 
come  and  the  man  was  not  wanting.  That 
world-wide  apostle  and  missionary,  that  bold 
and  intrepid  hero  in  Christian  service,  Will- 
iam Taylor,  accepted  the  high  office  to  which 


Introduction 

God  and  the  Church  had  called  him,  and  be- 
came the  first  Methodist  Bishop  for  Africa. 
The  record  of  his  faithful  labors,  journeys, 
privations,  perils,  and  successes  are  the 
heritage  of  a  grateful  Church  whose  behest 
he  obeyed,  and  whose  standard  he  ever  bore 
with  unswerving  devotion.  His  honored 
successor  has  just  entered  his  new  field  with 
equal  courage,  devotion,  and  faith,  and  un- 
der the  most  encouraging  auspices. 

While  the  spread  of  missions  has  been 
truly  marvelous,  even  within  the  memory 
of  people  now  in  middle  life,  the  interest  of 
the  Churches  in  the  world's  conversion  is 
far  short  of  what  it  should  be.  The  great 
mass  of  professing  Christians  probably 
never  contribute  a  penny  or  a  prayer  for 
the  salvation  of  the  heathen  world.  It  is 
difficult  to  account  for  the  apathy  which 
prevails  so  widely.  No  doubt  it  is  largely 
due  to  the  slight  attention  given  to  the  sub- 
ject. Home  and  personal  interests  preoc- 
cupy and  absorb  the  minds  of  our  people 
and  blind  them  to  the  needs  of  the  far- 
distant  millions.  Many  persons  strangely 
insist  that  our  efforts  should  be  concentrated 
in  meeting  the  needs  of  the  ' '  heathen  at 
our  doors,"  rather  than  be  divided  in  try- 

10 


Introduction 

ing  to  Christianize  the  heathen  in  another 
hemisphere. 

The  sordid  question  is  often  asked :  * '  Do 
missions  pay?  What  have  they  to  show  in 
visible  results  for  the  vast  outlay  of  money 
and  precious  lives?  "  This  inquiry  is  often 
made,  not  for  the  purpose  of  eliciting  infor- 
mation, but  as  a  supposed  unanswerable 
argument  in  interrogative  form  against 
the  maintenance  of  foreign  missions.  It  is 
hastily  assumed  that  such  missions  are  a 
practical  failure,  and  mission  statistics  are 
quoted  to  show  the  inconsequential  results 
of  missionary  labors. 

It  is  further  questioned  by  some  who 
would  excuse  their  indifference  to  the  cause 
of  foreign  missions,  whether  the  Christian- 
izing of  the  heathen  nations  is  really  im- 
portant or  even  desirable.  We  are  told 
that  these  nations  are  by  no  means  so  irre- 
ligious as  we  had  thought ;  that  they  have 
their  own  faith  and  creeds,  well  adapted  to 
their  racial  peculiarities,  which  inculcate  a 
morality  so  high  and  pure,  and  a  spirituality 
so  refined,  as  to  challenge  the  admiration 
of  even  Christian  minds.  Representatives 
of  the  chief  pagan  religions,  we  are  re- 
minded, have  recently  visited  this  country, 
11 


Introduction 

who  were  shocked  at  the  carnal  and  ma- 
terial character  of  our  own  boasted  civiliza- 
tion, and  whose  intelligence,  eloquence, 
devout-  spirit  and  manner,  and  profound  and 
subtle  teachings,  filled  great  audiences  with 
admiring  wonder.  Why  should  we  send 
missionaries  to  convert  such  men  and  those 
they  represent  to  our  peculiar  ways  of 
thinking  and  believing? 

Again,  there  are  found,  especially  among 
the  foreign  residents  in  heathen  lands, 
those  who  loudly  insist  that  the  heathen  are 
not  worth  saving.  The  indifference  and 
even  aversion  of  many  of  the  foreign  bank- 
ers, traders,  and  diplomats,  residing  in 
pagan  cities,  to  the  missionaries  and  their 
work,  is  largely  due  to  the  unchristian  con- 
tempt and  sometimes  violent  hatred  which 
they  feel  for  the  masses  of  the  native  peo- 
ples among  whom  they  dwell.  They  see 
heathenism  in  its  undisguised  vileness,  and 
being  destitute  of  benevolent  impulses  and 
a  proper  sense  of  Christian  duty  learn  to 
despise  and  abhor  both  the  prevalent  pa- 
ganism and  its  pitiable  victims. 

At  the  indignation  meetings  held  by 
the  foreign  residents  of  Shanghai,  China, 
following    the    cruel    Hwasang   massacres, 

12 


Introduction 

sentiments  were  expressed  by  reputable 
merchants  and  others  toward  the  Chinese 
race  as  a  whole  that  might  well  have 
shocked  a  gathering  of  untutored  vSavages. 

The  highest  sanction  and  strongest  mo- 
tive to  v/orld-wide  missionary  effort  is  our 
Saviour's  explicit  command  to  ' '  Go  into  all 
the  world  and  disciple  all  nations."  The 
early  apostles  were  to  begin  their  work  at 
Jerusalem,  but  by  no  means  to  remain 
there  until  all  the  Jews  had  been 
converted.  Almost  at  once  they  began 
missionary  work  among  the  Gentiles.  Con- 
sidering the  meager  facilities  of  those 
early  times,  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  in  the 
first  century  of  the  Christian  era  is  the 
marvel  of  history,  and  is  a  standing  rebuke 
to  the  feebleness  of  our  faith  and  the  lan- 
guor of  our  zeal.  Our  Lord's  mandate  is 
surely  no  less  binding  now  than  it  was 
then.  Indeed,  as  the  door  of  opportunity 
widens  it  becomes  the  more  imperative. 
When  we  think  that  the  great  heathen 
countries  are  now  open  through  their  vast 
extent  to  the  Christian  evangelist;  that 
residence,  even  in  West  China,  is  ordinarily 
as  safe  for  the  missionary  as  it  would  be  in 

London  or  New  York ;   that  in  India,  Japan, 
2  13 


Introduction 

and  even  Korea,  he  is  under  the  protection 
of  friendly  governments;  when  we  are  re- 
minded, too,  of  the  conveniences  of  travel 
and  the  facilities  for  prosecuting  all  kinds 
of  mission  work,  and  especially  of  the  acces- 
sibility of  the  heathen  peoples  and  their  in- 
creasingly kindly  disposition  toward  the 
''foreign  teachers,"  we  are  amazed  that  a 
sense  of  its  duty  to  the  wretched  and  neg- 
lected heathen  has  not  more  vStrongly  im- 
pressed itself  upon  the  Christian  world. 
There  is  vast  wealth  in  the  hands  of  the 
saints.  God  is  calling  more  men  into  the 
ministry  than  we  can  possibly  find  work  for 
in  the  home  field.  Marked  providential 
tokens  clearly  reveal  our  duty  to  the  be- 
nighted millions  beyond  the  seas. 

And  how  vSadly  do  they  need  our  Chris- 
tian sympathy  and  labors.  At  the  recent 
*'  Parliament  of  Religions  "  in  Chicago, 
after  listening  one  day  to  addresses  from 
representatives  of  several  of  the  promi- 
nent pagan  faiths,  an  English  missionary 
who  had  long  lived  in  China  remarked  in 
his  address  which  followed,  that  whatever 
good  and  kind  things  might  be  vSaid  of  some 
of  the  ethical  elements  of  those  pagan  be- 
liefs, nevertheless  the  importation  of  Chris- 

14 


Introduction 

tian  ideavS  into  those  heathen  landvS  was  of 
incalculable  value.  That  true  and  impress- 
ive statement  was  after  all  but  a  mild  and 
inadequate  putting  of  the  case  as  between 
Christianity  and  heathenism.  Those  living 
in  the  field,  and  even  transient  visitors  to 
heathen  lands,  can  see  few  lines  of  similar- 
ity or  points  of  contact  between  Christianity 
and  the  best  pagan  creeds.  Undisguised 
practical  heathenism  is  indescribably  barren 
and  horrid.  It  is  not  even  a  partial  substi- 
tute for  the  Christian  Gospel.  It  may  be 
gladly  admitted  that  heathen  can  occasion- 
ally be  found  who  are  decidedly  better  than 
the  besotted  masses  about  them :  that  now 
and  then  a  truly  godly  man  or  woman  ap- 
pears who  gives  clear  evidence  of  the  law 
written  in  the  heart ;  yet  such  cases  are  too 
rare  to  relieve  the  monotonous  vileness  of 
the  dominating  superstitions.  He  who  im- 
agines that  the  heathen  faiths  can  be  reha- 
bilitated and  invested  with  a  regenerating 
power  is  cherishing  a  pleasing  but  illusive 
dream.  Nothing  will  save  these  Christless 
lands  but  the  full  acceptance  of  that  Gospel 
which  is  ''  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation 
to  every  one  that  believeth." 

In  estimating  the  results  of  foreign  mis- 

15 


Introduction 

sions  the  candid  inquirer  will  take  many 
things  into  the  account.  The  statistical 
showing  might  prove  disappointing,  but  no 
one  accustomed  to  historical  researches  will 
be  warped  in  his  judgment  by  the  meagei 
exhibit  of  Christian  converts.  The  member- 
ship in  the  mission  churches  of  southern  and 
eastern  Asia  may  vSeeni  hardly  worth  con- 
sidering when  compared  with  the  vast  and 
unreached  heathen  population.  Yet  to 
those  intimately  familiar  with  the  changed 
personal  and  family  lives  of  the  Christian 
converts  it  is  worth  all  the  expenditure  of 
money  and  toil  to  have  saved  even  the  com- 
parative few  from  the  chains  of  a  heathenism 
indescribably  debased  and  hopeless. 

The  ground  of  our  large  hope  for  the 
Christianizing  of  the  heathen  nations  is  the 
ever-brightening  indications  of  a  nearing 
era  of  mighty  changes  and  unparalleled 
successes.  The  traditional  superstitions  are 
loosening  their  hold  upon  the  masses  of  the 
people.  The  Christian  Gospel  in  the  purity 
of  its  teaching,  and  especially  as  exemplified 
in  the  lives  of  the  Christian  converts,  is 
making  a  most  powerful  and  healthful  im- 
pression upon  observant  heathen.  The 
burden  of  conscious  sin  and  the  awakened 

16 


Introduction 

but  unsatisfied  longings  for  spiritual  free- 
dom and  peace  are  creating  a  widening  and 
deepening  interest  in  the  Christian  religion. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  millions  of  the 
best  minds  among  the  heathen  are  in  a  sus- 
pensive mood.  They  have  lost  faith  in  the 
prevailing  heathenism,  and  though  hesita- 
ting to  accept  the  social  ostracism  inevitably 
following  an  open  Christian  confession 
they  are  candid  inquirers,  and  may  soon  in 
great  masses  become  brave  and  happy  con- 
verts to  the  Christian  faith.  Indeed,  in 
some  pai'ts  of  India  and  China  the  move- 
ment has  already  begun,  and  its  increasing 
flow  has  only  been  arrested  by  the  sad  ina- 
bility of  the  missions,  through  their  strait- 
ened resources,  properly  to  care  for  and 
train  the  new  converts. 

No  just  estimate  can  be  made  of  what 
Christian  missions  have  effected  in  their 
short  history  without  considering  the  indi- 
rect results  of  missionary  labors.  The  mis- 
sionaries as  a  class  have  impressed  them- 
selves strongly  upon  the  native  peoples. 
The  simplicity  and  purity  of  their  lives; 
their  strict  truthfulness  and  honesty,  in 
broad  contrast  with  the  character  and  con- 
duct of  many  other  foreigners  ;  their  uniform 

17 


Introduction 

kindness  and  unselfishness  manifested  on 
all  occasions,  but  especially  in  their  care  for 
the  poor  and  the  suffering ;  their  readiness 
to  espouse  the  side  of  justice  as  between 
natives  and  foreigners,  have  given  them  a 
high  place  in  the  esteem  of  the  heathen 
among  whom  they  live,  and  to  whom  they 
would  gladly  minister.  Missionaries  have 
often  suffered  from  scandalous  and  baseless 
stories  fabricated  by  powerful  and  unscru- 
pulous enemies,  resulting  in  occasional  riots 
and  massacres;  but  to  an  ever-increasing 
extent  the  unsophisticated  masses  are  learn- 
ing the  truth  and  giving  their  frank  and 
warm  confidence  to  those  whom  they  are 
coming  to  regard  as  their  true  and  steadfast 
friends. 

If  there  be  a  single  high  vocation  for  the 
Christian  young  people  of  our  day,  it  is  the 
conquest  of  the  unchristianized  world  for 
their  divine  Lord.  The  "  set  time  to  favor 
Zion  "  has  surely  comCo  He  reads  the 
signs  of  the  times  to  little  profit  who  is  not 
impressed  with  this  manifest  fact.  The 
doors  of  opportunity  are  thrown  widely 
open.  Boundless  resources  are  at  our  com- 
mand. Insuperable  difficulties  have 
strangely  vanished.     Appealing  voices  call 

18 


Introduction 

to  us  from  above,  from  beyond,  from  with- 
in !  Shall  we  not  respond  to  these  voices? 
Shall  we  not  hail  with  gladness  our  day  of 
visitation  ? 

This  is  the  day  of  great  things — of  great 
plans,  undertakings,  and  achievements. 
Projects  of  small  and  feeble  import  fail  to 
rivet  attention  and  kindle  enthusiasm. 
None  like  the  young  feel  the  thrill  of  this 
new  spirit  of  the  times.  Unless  the  youth- 
ful Church  can  seize  upon  some  object  of 
Christian  endeavor  large  enough  to  fill  their 
holiest  ambitions  and  tax  their  most  strenu- 
ous energies,  they  will  languish  in  inglori- 
ous apathy,  or  waste  their  golden  opportuni- 
ties in  the  mad  chase  of  worldly  phantoms. 
Among  our  bannered  mottoes  let  this  take 
highest  place:  '' Christ  for  all  the  world, 
and  all  the  world  for  CHRIST." 

W.  X.   NiNDE. 
19 


I 

Davib  Xivingatone 

BY 

W.  F.  McDowell 


{picket  Xine  of  HIMssions 


I 

David  Livingstone 

David  Livingstone  is  a  name  to  conjure 
with.  This  Scotch  physician  appeals  to  con- 
noisseurs in  manliness.  Blaikie,  his  princi- 
pal biographer,  and  Thomas  Hughes,  author 
of  the  best  brief  biography  of  Livingstone, 
are  both  known  as  lovers  of  true  manliness. 
Mr.  Hughes  writes  the  Manliness  of  Christ, 
the  ''Tom  Brown"  books,  dj^d,  Livingstone 
for  the  "  Men  of  Action  "  series,  studying 
in  each  case  a  different  personality,  but  not 
a  different  theme. 

March  19,  18 13,  David  Livingstone  was 
born  in  Blantyre,  Scotland.  ''  My  own  in- 
clination would  lead  me  to  say  as  little  as 
possible  about  myself."  The  world,  how- 
ever, has  forced  into  print  all  that  could  be 
gathered  about  him.  He  records  two  items 
about  his  ancestors :  '  *  My  great-grand- 
father fell  at  the  battle  of  Culloden,  fight- 

23 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

ing  for  the  old  line  of  kings,  and  my  grand- 
father was  a  small  farmer  in  Ulua,  where 
my  father  was  born."  And  this:  ''The 
only  point  of  the  family  tradition  that  I  feel 
proud  of  is  this — one  of  these  poor  islanders, 
one  of  my  ancestors,  when  he  was  on  his 
deathbed,  called  his  children  around  him 
and  said :  '  Now,  lads,  I  have  looked  all 
through  our  history  as  far  back  as  I  can  find 
it,  and  I  have  never  found  a  dishonest  man 
in  all  the  line,  and  I  want  you  to  understand 
you  inherit  good  blood.  You  have  no  ex- 
cuse for  v/rongdoing.  Be  honest.'"  When 
honors  were  finally  laid  in  profusion  at  Liv- 
ingstone's feet  he  wrote  affectionately  of 
"  his  own  people,  the  honest  poor." 

Students  of  history  will  have  no  difficulty 
recalling  the  historical  conditions  existing 
in  1813.  Six  years  earlier  England  had 
abolished  the  slave  trade.  Two  years  later 
Waterloo  came.  The  ''Consecrated  Cob- 
bler "  had  awakened  the  Churches  of  Eng- 
land to  their  missionary  duty,  and  there 
were  a  dozen  societies  then  in  their  youth 
eager  to  spread  the  Gospel  in  foreign  lands. 
The  charter  of  the  American  Board  was  a 
year  old  when  Livingstone  was  born.  The 
Wesleyan  Missionary  Society  was  organized 

24 


David  Livingstone 

in  1 8 12,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Mission- 
ary Society  in  1819.  It  was  the  day  of  ex- 
ploration and  inquiry,  the  day  in  which  the 
modern  missionary  movement  began.  Into 
the  kingdom  at  such  a  time  and  for  such  a 
time  Livingstone  came.  At  the  age  of  ten 
he  went  to  work  in  the  cotton  mills.  Out 
of  his  first  week's  wages  he  saved  enough  to 
buy  Ruddiman's  Rudiments.  The  employers 
provided  a  schoolmaster  to  give  evening  in- 
struction. When  Livingstone  could  have 
the  master's  assistance  he  took  it,  when  he 
could  not  get  it  he  toiled  on  alone.  Thus 
he  mastered  his  Latin.  He  was  not  brighter 
than  other  boys.  He  was  not  precocious  in 
anything  save  determination.  Early  his 
scientific  tastes  revealed  themselves.  While 
he  had  the  passion  for  reading  he  had 
equally  the  passion  for  exploration  and  for 
such  sports  as  swimming  and  fishing.  ' '  ^ly 
reading  in  the  factory,"  he  says,  **  was  car- 
ried on  by  placing  the  book  on  a  portion  of 
the  spinning  jenny,  so  that  I  could  catch 
sentence  after  sentence  as  I  passed  at  my 
work.  I  thus  kept  a  pretty  constant  study, 
undisturbed  by  the  roar  of  machinery.  To 
this  I  owe  the  power  of  completely  abstract- 
ing my  mind,  so  as  to  read  and  write  with 

25 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

perfect  comfort  amidst  the  play  of  children 
and  vSong  of  vSavages."  At  nineteen  he  was 
promoted  in  the  factory.  At  twenty  he 
'*  lighted  upon  the  admirable  works  of  Dr. 
Thomas  Dick,  The  PJiilosopJiy  of  Religion 
and  TJie  PJiilosopJiy  of  a  Future  State,  and 
was  gratified  to  find  that  he  had  enforced 
his  own  conviction  that  religion  and 
science  are  friendly  to  one  another."  At 
about  this  time  a  missionary  society  was 
established  in  the  village.  He  became  ac- 
quainted with  missionary  biography.  The 
Life  of  Henry  Martyn  stirred  his  blood.  The 
story  of  Charles  Gutzlaff,  medical  mission- 
ary to  China,  was  as  a  trumpet  call.  Almost 
simultaneously  came  his  conversion,  bring- 
ing peace  and  power  and  this  missionary  in- 
fluence. Young  Epworth  Leaguers  will  pause 
over  the  statement  that  at  twenty  he  had 
resolved  to  devote  to  the  missionary  cause 
all  he  could  earn  and  save.  Then  Gutzlaff 
appealed  to  the  Churches  of  Great  Britain 
and  America  for  aid  in  behalf  of  China, 
and  Livingstone  offered  not  his  earnings, 
but  his  life.  ''It  is  my  desire,'*  he  said, 
"  to  show  my  attachment  to  the  cause  of 
Him  who  died  for  me  by  devoting  my  life 
to  his  service,"  and    "  from  this  time  my 

26 


David  Livingstone 

efforts  were  constantly  devoted  toward  this 
object  without  any  fluctuation."  This  lavSt 
sentence  shows  influence  of  a  faithful  Sun- 
day school  teacher  who  had  said  to  him, 
"Now,  lad,  make  religion  the  everyday 
bUvSiness  of  your  life,  and  not  a  thing  of  fits 
and  starts."  Livingstone  did  not  propose 
to  go  as  a  missionary  without  preparation. 
He  went  on  with  his  studies  for  six  or  seven 
years  from  the  date  of  the  resolution  quoted 
above.  When  at  last  he  went  it  was  with 
the  strength  and  training  of  a  man .  He  was 
accepted  by  the  London  Missionary  Society, 
whose  object — "  to  send  neither  Episcopacy 
nor  Presbyterianism  nor  Independency,  but 
the  Gospel  of  Christ  to  the  heathen" — exactly 
agreed  with  his  ideas.  He  wanted  to  go  as 
a  medical  missionary  to  China,  but  the 
opium  war  shut  him  out.  He  grew  weary 
of  waiting,  but  never  faltered  in  his  purpose. 
One  day  Robert  Moffat  came  home  to  plead 
for  the  South  African  Mission.  He  told 
Livingstone  that  he  had  "sometimes  seen 
in  the  morning  sun  the  smoke  of  a  thousand 
villages  where  no  missionary  had  ever  been . 
That  settled  the  question  for  Livingstone. 
It    was  God's   hand   leading   him   into  the 

•Dark  Continent.      In  1840  he  was  ordained 

27 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

and  received  his  medical  diploma.  Speak- 
ing of  the  latter,  he  said,  ''With  unfeigned 
delight  I  became  a  member  of  a  profession 
which  with  unwearied  energy  pursues  from 
age  to  age  its  endeavors  to  lessen  human 
woe."  On  the  evening  of  November  i6, 
1840,  he  wxnt  home  to  visit  for  one  night 
with  his  parents.  He  proposed  to  sit  up  all 
night.  His  father  had  the  heart  and  soul  of 
a  missionary.  He  was  the  kind  of  man  por- 
trayed in  "The  Cotter's  Saturday  Night." 
Far  into  the  night  they  talked  of  the  pros- 
pects of  Christian  missions.  They  talked 
of  the  coming  day  when  rich  and  great  men 
would  think  it  an  honor  to  support  whole 
stations  of  missionaries  instead  of  spending 
their  money  on  hounds  and  horses.  At  five 
the  next  morning  they  had  breakfast,  and 
then  gathered  around  the  family  altar  for 
prayers.  David  read  the  121st  and  135th 
Psalms  and  prayed.  It  is  a  scene  for  an 
artist.  Father  and  son  walked  to  Glasgow. 
"  On  the  Broomiclaw  they  parted,  and  never 
met  again  on  earth."  The  father  set  his 
face  toward  home,  the  great  son  resolutely 
starting  toward  the  "  smoke  of  the  thousand 
villages." 

December   8,    1840,    he    sailed   for  Cape 

28 


David  Livingstone 

Town,  at  the  southern  extremity  of  Africa. 
It  is  an  historic  date  in  the  history  of  Africa 
and  in  the  history  of  the  Christian  Church. 
When  he  arrived  at  the  cape  he  found  Dr, 
Philip,  acting  agent  for  the  London  Mis- 
sionary vSociety,  desirous  of  returning  home 
for  a  vacation,  and  anxious  to  find  some  one 
willing  to  take  his  place  as  minister  to  the 
congregation  at  Cape  Town.  The  place, 
with  good  compensation,  was  offered  to 
Livingstone.  Then  he  remembered  that 
Moffat  had  said  to  him,  ''You  -will  do 
for  Africa  if  you  do  not  go  to  an  old 
station,  but  push  on  to  the  vast  unoccupied 
districts  to  the  north."  He  declined  the 
easier  position  and  pushed  on  toward  Dr. 
Moffat's  station  at  Kuruman,  seven  hun- 
dred miles  to  the  north.  These  seven 
hundred  miles  formed  the  crust  of  heathen- 
ism as  dense  as  night.  On  into  it  this 
fearless  man  went.  He  practiced  medicine 
as  he  went.  The  people  believed  him  to 
be  a  wizard.  They  thought  him  able  to 
raise  the  dead.  The  sick  and  the  curious 
crowded  about  his  wagon,  but  not  an  article 
was  stolen.  One  day  the  chief  of  a  savage 
tribe  said :    "I  wish  you  w^ould  change  my 

heart.     Give  me  medicine  to  change  it,  for 
3  29 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

it  is  proud,  proud  and  angry,  angry  al- 
ways." The  physician  and  the  scientist, 
the  minister  and  the  reformer,  are  all  com- 
bined in  this  one  man.  He  heals  the  sick ; 
he  notes  the  scenery,  classifying  the  plants, 
birds,  and  beasts,  noting  that  forty-three 
fruits  and  thirty-two  edible  roots  grow  wild 
in  a  certain  district ;  he  gathers  specimens 
for  a  London  college ;  he  rescues  a  little 
girl  about  to  be  sold  into  slavery ;  he  re- 
joices that  God  had  conferred  upon  him  the 
privilege  and  honor  of  being  the  first  mes- 
senger of  mercy  that  ever  trod  those  regions. 
He  writes  home : 

"  This  is  the  country  for  a  medical  man, 
but  he  must  leave  fees  out  of  the  question. 
These  people  are  excellent  patients,  too. 
There  is  no  wincing ;  everything  prescribed 
is  done  instanter.  Their  only  failing  is 
that  they  get  tired  of  a  long  course,  but  in 
any  operation  even  the  women  sit  unmoved. 
I  have  been  astonished  again  and  again  at 
their  calmness.  In  cutting  out  a  tumor  an 
inch  in  diameter  they  sit  and  talk  as  if  they 
felt  nothing.  '  A  man  like  me,'  they  say, 
'  never  cries.  It  is  children  that  cry.'  And 
it  is  a  fact  that  the  men  never  cry;  but 
when   the    Spirit    of   God  works   on    their 

30 


David  Livingstone 

minds  they  cry  most  piteously,  trying  to 
hide  their  heads  in  their  karosses,  and  when 
they  find  that  won't  do  they  rush  out  of 
church  and  run  with  all  their  might,  crying 
as  if  the  hand  of  death  were  behind  them." 
Meantime  visions  of  planting  colonies 
here  float  before  him.  He  explores  for 
Jesus  Christ.  He  covers  his  letters  with 
maps  of  the  country.  Every  new  tract  is 
a  new  field  for  the  Gospel.  He  studies  the 
African  fever,  the  tsetse  fly,  and  dreams  of 
the  lake.  The  details  of  these  years  cannot 
be  given  here.  Four  years  go  by.  During 
this  time  occurred  the  adventure  with  the 
lion,  of  which  adventure  he  writes  that  "  he 
meant  to  have  kept  it  to  tell  his  children 
in  his  old  age."  It  was  during  his  second 
missionary  year.  He  says  of  it :  "  He 
rushed  from  the  bushes  and  bit  me  on  the 
arm,  breaking  the  bone.  I  hope  I  shall 
never  forget  God's  mercy.  It  will  be  well 
before  this  letter  reaches  you.  Do  not 
mention  it  to  anyone.  I  do  not  like  to  be 
talked  about."  He  never  voluntarily  re- 
ferred to  it.  But  of  the  wound  then 
received  Sir  Bartle  Frere  writes  in  an 
obituary  notice  before  the  Royal  Geograph- 
ical Society :    ' '  For  thirty  years  afterward 

31 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

all  adventures  and  exposures  and  hardships 
were  undertaken  with  an  arm  so  maimed 
that  it  was  painful  to  raise  a  fowling-piece 
to  his  shoulder."  In  putting-  up' a  new 
mission  station  he  broke  it  over  again,  but 
barely  mentioned  the  fact.  Thirty  years 
afterward — after  his  remains  had  been  car- 
ried one  thousand  miles  to  the  coast  by 
faithful  African  followers,  and  thence  to 
England,  to  be  deposited  in  Westminster 
Abbey  among  the  illustrious  dead — a  com- 
pany of  royal  surgeons  identified  the  body 
by  the  scar  and  compound  fracture  made 
by  the  lion's  teeth. 

Four  years  he  toiled  on  alone,  putting 
aside  all  thoughts  of  matrimony;  but  at 
last,  in  1 844,  he  writes :  ' '  After  nearly 
four  years  of  African  life  as  a  bachelor  1 
screwed  up  courage  to  put  a  question  be- 
neath one  of  the  fruit  trees,  the  result  of 
which  is  that  I  became  united  in  marriage 
to  Mr.  Moffat's  eldest  daughter,  Mary." 
The  young  couple  spent  their  first  year  at 
Mabotsa ;  then  on  to  Chonuane,  forty  miles 
north.  ''The  chief,  Sechele,  here  was  his 
first  convert,  and  in  a  few  weeks  was  able 
to  read  the  Bible,  his  favorite  book  being 
Isaiah.      *  He  was  a  fine  man,  that  Isaiah ; 

82 


David  Livingstone 

he  knew  how  to  speak.'  "  In  his  newborn 
zeal  Sechele  proposed  summary  methods  of 
conversion.  '*  Do  you  think  you  can  make 
my  people  believe  by  talking-  to  them?" 
he  urged.  "  I  can  make  them  do  nothing 
except  by  thrashing  them,  and  if  you  like 
I  shall  call  my  headman,  and  with  our 
whips  of  rhinoceros  hide  we  will  soon 
make  them  all  believe  together."  This 
offer  was  declined,  and  vSechele  soon  began 
to  understand  Livingstone's  spirit  and  to 
adopt  his  methods,  though  their  apparent 
failure  grieved  him  sorely.  He  began 
family  worship  in  his  house,  and  surprised 
Livingstone  by  the  simple  and  beautiful 
style  in  which  he  conducted  it ;  but  except 
his  own  family  no  one  attended.  ' '  In 
former  times,"  he  complained,  ''  if  a  chief 
was  fond  of  hunting,  all  his  people  got  dogs 
and  became  fond  of  hunting,  too.  If  he 
loved  beer,  they  all  rejoiced  in  strong 
drink.  But  now  it  is  different.  I  love  the 
word  of  God,  but  not  one  of  my  brethren 
will  join  me." 

After  a  time  they  go  still  farther  north,  to 
Kolobeng.  Livingstone  is  never  idle.  He 
gathers  information,  heals  the  sick,  and  tells 
the  natives  of  Jesus,  ending  every  article, 

88 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

every  letter,  and  every  prayerwith  the  words, 
"Who  will  penetrate  Africa?"  He  hears 
of  a  doctrinal  controversy  going  on  at  home, 
and  it  makes  him  sick  at  heart  to  know  that 
millions  perish  while  well-fed  brethren  split 
theological  hairs.  He  gains  few  converts, 
but  only  reports  the  actual  number,  saying 
that  five  good  ones  are  better  than  fifty  poor 
ones,  though  fifty  sounds  better  in  the  sta- 
tistics. At  this  period  his  brother  Charles 
came  to  America  to  secure  an  education 
that  he  might  be  a  missionary.  He  had  not 
money  enough  to  get  it  in  England.  He 
landed  in  New  York  with  ten  dollars,  where 
he  bought  a  loaf  of  bread  and  a  piece  of 
cheese  and  started  for  Oberlin  College. 

In  1849  Livingstone  discovered  Lake 
N'gami,  the  first  European  to  look  upon  its 
waters.  But  at  once  he  declared  that  the  dis- 
covery was  a  part  of  theenterprise  forChrist's 
kingdom,  and  would  open  the  way  into 
the  interior.  He  never  forgot  the  ' '  smoke 
of  the  thousand  villages."  Discovering 
lakes  and  exploring  new  tracts  were  only 
means  to  ends.  In  1850  one  of  his  chil- 
dren, a  babe  six  weeks  old,  died.  A  little 
later  Charles  proposed  to  him  to  come  to 
America  and   settle,  which   brought    forth 

34 


David  Livingstone 

the  famous  declaration  :  '  ^  am  a  missionary, 
heart  and  soul.  God  had  an  only  Son  and 
he  was  a  missionary  and  a  physician.  I  am 
a  poor,  poor  imitation  of  him,  or  wish  to  be. 
In  this  service  I  hope  to  live,  in  it  I  wish  to 
die."  But  this  missionary  physician  had 
the  plans  and  visions  of  a  statesman.  The 
slave  trade  fairly  froze  his  blood.  He  set 
aside  small  plans  for  large  ones.  He  saw 
the  traffic  in  human  beings  intrenched  from 
coast  to  coast.  He  felt  that  a  path  must  be 
opened  across  the  continent  from  east  to 
west  so  that  lawful  commerce  and  Chris- 
tian civilization  could  enter.  Men  at  home, 
men  who  had  never  seen  a  mission  field,  the 
men  who  always  know  at  a  distance  far 
more  than  the  man  on  the  ground — these 
men  complained.  They  styled  Livingstone's 
efforts  as  ' '  wanderings."  They  wanted  him 
to  settle  down,  to  teach,  to  train  a  few  souls. 
He  knew  that  to  be  a  noble  work,  but  not 
his  at  that  time.  He  writes  to  his  father: 
"  The  conversion  of  a  few  cannot  be  put 
into  the  scale  against  the  truth  spread  over 
the  whole  country."  The  word  ''wander- 
ings," he  said,  contained  a  lie  like  a  serpent 
coiled  up  on  its  bosom. 

On  April  23,  1852,  Mrs.  Livingstone  and 
35 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

the  four  children  started  for  England.  It 
was  a  very  great  trial  to  them  all,  but  it  was 
necessary.  The  children  could  not  be  edu- 
cated in  that  heathen  land.  But  Livine:- 
stone  spoke  two  or  three  sentences  in  con- 
nection with  this  event  which  ought  to  be 
written  in  letters  of  light  before  all  mana- 
gers of  missions  and  missionaries.  These 
are  the  sentences:  ''Missionaries  expose 
their  children  to  a  contamination  which  they 
have  had  no  hand  in  producing.  We  ex- 
pose them  and  ourselves  for  a  time  in  order 
to  elevate  those  sad  captives  of  sin  and 
Satan  who  are  the  victims  of  the  degrada- 
tion of  ages.  None  of  those  who  complain 
about  missionaries  sending  their  children 
home  ever  descend  to  this.  The  mark  of 
Cain  is  on  your  foreheads,  your  father  is  a 
missionary.  Our  children  ought  to  have 
both  the  sympathies  and  prayers  of  those 
at  v/hose  bidding  we  become  strangers  for 
ire. 

David  and  Mary  Livingstone  consecrated 
themselves  to  the  redemption  of  Africa,  her 
consecration  being  as  true  and  as  willing  as 
his.  The  separation  was  as  painful  for  her 
as  for  him.  She  had  no  enjoyment  in  Eng- 
land with    her   noble    husband    in    Africa. 

30 


David  Livingstone 

And  yet  they  said,  if  merchants,  explorers, 
and  seamen  could  separate  from  their  fam- 
ilies for  years  for  love  of  gain,  could  not 
they  endure  as  much  for  Christ?  There 
were  those,  most  of  them  comfortable  souls 
sitting  at  home,  who  said  that  this  separa- 
tion was  for  the  mutual  pleasure  of  this  he- 
roic pair ;  that  Africa  was  more  agreeable 
to  David  with  Mary  in  England,  and  Eng- 
land more  attractive  for  her  with  the  doc- 
tor in  Africa.     Listen  to  one  of  his  letters : 

**My  Dearest  Mary:  How  I  miss  you 
now,  and  the  children!  My  heart  yearns 
incessantly  over  you.  Hov\^  many  thoughts 
of  the  past  crowd  into  my  mind !  I  feel  as 
if  I  could  treat  you  all  much  more  tenderly 
and  lovingly  than  ever.  You  have  been  a 
great  blessing  to  me.  You  attended  to  my 
comfort  in  many,  many  ways.  May  God 
bless  you  for  all  your  kindnesses !  I  see  no 
face  now  to  be  compared  with  that  sunburnt 
one  which  has  so  often  greeted  me  with  its 
kind  looks.  Let  us  do  our  duty  to  our  Sav- 
iour, and  we  shall  meet  again.  I  wish  that 
time  were  now.  You  may  read  the  letters 
over  again  which   I  wrote  at  Mabotsa,  the 

sweet  time  you  know.    As  I  told  you  before 
37 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

I  tell  you  again,  they  are  true,  true ;  there 
is  not  a  bit  of  hypocrivSy  in  them.  I  never 
show  all  my  feelings ;  but  I  can  say  truly, 
my  dearest,  that  I  loved  you  when  I  mar- 
ried you,  and  the  longer  I  lived  with  you  I 
loved  you  the  better.  .  .  .  Let  us  do  our 
duty  to  Christ,  and  he  will  bring  us  through 
the  world  with  honor  and  usefulness.  He 
is  our  refuge  and  high  tower ;  let  us  trust 
in  him  at  all  times  and  in  all  circumstances. 
Love  him  more  and  more,  and  diffuse  his 
love  among  the  children.  Take  them  all 
around  you  and  kiss  them  for  me.  Tell 
them  I  have  left  them  for  the  love  of  Jesus, 
and  they  must  love  him  too,  and  avoid  sin, 
for  that  displeases  Jesus.  I  shall  be  de- 
lighted to  hear  of  you  all  safe  in  Eng- 
land. .  .  ." 

Being  left  thus  alone,  he  turned  his  face 
toward  the  interior,  vivSited  numerous  tribes, 
preached  everywhere,  went  alone,  carrying 
neither  purse  nor  scrip ;  living  on  what  he 
found  or  what  was  given  to  him,  walking  or 
vsleeping  in  the  midst  of  hostile  tribes  in 
absolute  fearlessness.  Part  of  the  country 
was  flooded,  and  the  travelers  had  to  wade 

all   day,   forcing   their  way  through  sharp- 

;;s 


David  Livingstone 

bladed  reeds,  with  hands  all  raw  and 
bloody,  emerg-ing-  with  knees,  hands,  and 
face  cut  and  bleeding.  It  required  all  his 
tact  and  power  to  prevent  the  guides  and 
servants  from  deserting  him.  Every  one 
but  himself  was  attacked  with  a  fever,  and 
he  writes :  "I  would  like  to  devote  a  por- 
tion of  my  life  to  the  discovery  of  a  remedy 
for  this  terrible  disease."  At  last  he  was 
smitten  down,  and  we  find  in  his  journal : 
' '  Am  I  on  my  way  to  die  in  the  Sebituanes 
country?  Havel  seen  the  end  of  my  wife 
and  children?  O  Jesus,  fill  me  with  thy 
love  now,  and  I  beseech  thee  accept  me  and 
use  me  a  little  for  thy  glory.  I  have  done 
nothing  for  thee  yet,  and  I  would  like  to  do 
something." 

Then  some  of  the  missionaries  in  South 
Africa  accused  him  of  worldly  ambition. 
They  said  that  he  was  sinking  the  mission- 
ary in  the  explorer.  But  this  is  what  he 
writes  about  it : 

**The  natives  listen,  but  never  suppose 
the  truth  must  be  embodied  in  actual  life. 
...  A  minister  who  had  not  seen  so  much 
pioneer  service  as  I  have  done  would  have 
been  shocked  to  .see  so  little  effect  pro- 
duced. .  .  .  We  can  afford  to  work  in  faith. 

39 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

.  .  .  When  we  view  the  state  of  the  world 
and  its  advancing  energies  by  childlike — or 
call  it  childish — faith  we  see  the  earth  filling 
with  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God — 
aye,  all  nations  seeing  his  glory  and  bowing 
before  Him  whose  right  it  is  to  reign.  We 
work  toward  another  state  of  things.  Fu- 
ture missionaries  will  be  rewarded  by  con- 
versions for  every  sermon.  We  are  their 
pioneers.  They  will,  doubtless,  have  more 
light  than  we,  but  we  served  our  Master 
earnestly  and  proclaimed  the  same  Gospel 
they  will  do." 

And  again  he  writes :  ' '  I  place  no  value 
on  anything  I  have  or  possess  except  in  re- 
lation to  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  It  is  not 
the  encountering  of  difficulties  and  dangers 
in  obedience  to  inward  spiritual  promptings 
which  constitutes  tempting  Providence,  but 
the  acting  without  faith,  proceeding  on  our 
ov/n  errands  with  no  previous  convictions 
of  duty  and  no  prayer  for  aid  and  direction. 
Help  me.  Thou  who  knowest  my  frame  and 
pitiest  me  as  a  father!  " 

His  whole  mind  was  set  to  find  a  way  to 
the  west  coast.  He  knew  that  the  attempt 
was  in  the  nature  of  a  forlorn  hope,  but 
still  it  was  worth  trying.     He  wrote :  ' '  Can- 

40 


David  Livingstone 

not  the  love  of  Christ  carry  the  missionary 
where  the  slave  trade  carries  the  trader?  I 
shall  open  up  a  path  to  the  interior  or  per- 
ish." Now,  it  does  not  matter  very  much 
what  the  world  says  or  thinks  of  a  man  with 
that  spirit.  For  years  he  saw  no  white 
face.  For  years  he  lived  alone  in  the  heart 
of  the  Dark  Continent ;  battled  with  polyg- 
amy, with  cannibalism,  incest,  and  slavery, 
and  with  every  conceivable  form  of  detest- 
able sin.  But  the  difficulties  of  this  jour- 
ney to  the  west  coast  did  not  discourage 
him.  He  calmly  made  up  his  mind  that 
he  was  as  like  as  not  to  die  on  that  jour- 
ney, so  he  made  his  will,  and  this  is  what 
he  says : 

'  *  May  Christ  accept  my  children  for  his 
service,  and  sanctify  them  for  it !  My  bless- 
ing on  my  wife.  May  God  comfort  her !  If 
my  watch  comes  back  after  I  am  cut  off  it 
belongs  to  Agnes;  if  my  sextant,  it  is 
Robert's;  the  Paris  medal  to  Thomas, 
and  the  double-barreled  gun  to  Zouza.  Be 
a  father  to  the  fatherless  and  a  husband 
to  the  widow,  for  Jesus'  sake.  The  Boers, 
by  taking  possession  of  all  my  goods, 
have  saved  me  the  trouble  of  making  a 
will." 

41 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

On  November  ii,  1853,  he  l^^t  Linyanti, 
almost  in  the  center  of  lower  Africa,  and 
seven  months  later  arrived  at  St.  Paul  de 
Loanda,  on  the  west  coast.  There  is  no 
way  to  describe  this  journey.  It  is  full  of  in- 
cident. But  the  most  impressive  thing  about 
it  all  was  the  horrors  of  the  slave  trade  as 
witnessed  on  this  long  journey.  Every  day 
he  saw  families  torn  asunder,  dead  bodies 
along  the  way,  gangs  chained  and  yoked, 
skeletons  grinning  against  the  trees  and  by 
the  roadside.  As  he  rowed  along  on  the 
river  Shire  the  paddles  of  his  boat  were 
clogged  in  the  morning  with  the  bodies  of 
women  and  children  who  had  died  in  the 
slave-chained  gangs  and  been  thrown  into 
the  river  at  night.  The  air  was  thick  with 
vultures  following  them.  He  counted 
bodies  in  the  stream  by  the  score  as  they 
came  floating  down.  He  found  the  horrible 
system  intrenched  from  the  center  of  the 
continent  to  the  coast.  It  is  scarcely  sur- 
prising, therefore,  that  he  felt  that  the  ex- 
posure of  this  gigantic  iniquity  must  be  his 
principal  work.  So  he  writes  to  his  father 
that  he  cannot  settle  down  to  teach  and 
train  and  turn  a  few  souls  to  Christ.  The 
conversion  of  a  few  cannot  be  put  into  the 

42 


David  Livingstone 

scale  against  the  truth  spread  over  the 
whole  country.  This  lonely  missionary 
opening  up  a  highway  across  the  continent 
for  commerce,  for  civilization,  for  the  Gos- 
pel, rose  to  the  stature  of  a  statesman. 
Beautiful  incidents  occurred  on  this  trip 
showing  the  devotion  of  his  men.  Listen  : 
''  Some  of  my  men  proposed  to  return 
home,  and  the  prospect  of  being  obliged  to 
turn  back  from  the  threshold  of  the  Portu- 
guese settlements  distressed  me  exceed- 
ingly. After  using  all  my  powers  of  per- 
suasion I  declared  that  if  they  now  returned 
I  should  go  on  alone,  and,  returning  into 
my  little  tent,  I  lifted  up  my  heart  to  Him 
who  hears  the  sighing  of  the  soul.  Pres- 
ently the  headman  came  in.  '  Do  not  be 
disheartened,  *  he  said ;  '  we  will  never  leave 
you.  Wherever  you  lead  we  will  follow. 
Our  remarks  were  only  made  on  account  of 
the  injustice  of  these  people.'  Others  fol- 
lowed, and  with  the  most  artless  simplicity 
of  manner  told  me  to  be  comforted — '  they 
were  all  my  children;  they  knew  no  one 
but  Sekeletu  and  me,  and  would  die  for 
me ;  they  had  spoken  in  bitterness  of  spirit, 
feeling  they  could  do  nothing.'  " 

It  was  seven    months   before   he  finally 

48 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

reached  the  west  coast.  The  hardships  had 
been  incredible.  Thirty  attacks  of  fever 
had  so  weakened  him  that  he  could  scarcely 
mount  his  ox  or  hold  an  instrument  for  a 
simple  calculation.  Once  more,  near  the 
end,  the  hearts  of  his  men  began  to  fail, 
and  they  hinted  their  doubts  to  him,  and 
he  said :  ''  If  you  suspect  me  you  can  return, 
for  I  am  as  ignorant  of  Loanda  as  you. 
But  nothing  will  happen  to  you  but  hap- 
pens to  me.  We  have  stood  by  each  other 
hitherto,  and  will  do  so  until  the  last." 
When  they  reached  Loanda  Livingstone 
was  poor  and  ragged,  a  vskeleton,  almost 
consumed  with  dysentery  and  famine.  It 
seemed  for  weeks  that  he  could  see  nothing 
but  visions  of  naked  men  with  spears  and 
clubs,  bodies  of  slaves  dead  and  dying,  pes- 
tilence walking  at  noonday,  destruction 
wasting  at  midnight,  a  land  covered  with 
skeletons,  pre5^ed  on  by  fever,  looted  by  the 
slave  driver,  appealing  hands  everywhere, 
and  no  deliverer,  no  physician. 

When  he  reached  the  coast  a  Portuguese 
gentleman  gave  him  a  suit  of  clothes,  and 
Livingstone  blessed  him  in  the  name  of  Him 
who  said,  "  I  was  naked,  and  ye  clothed 
me."      Dr.  Gabriel,   the  English  commis- 

44 


David  Livingstone 

sioner  for  the  suppression  of  the  slave 
trade,  received  him  with  the  utmost  kind- 
ness, giving  him  his  own  bed,  of  which 
Livingstone  said :  ' '  Never  shall  I  forget 
the  luxurious  pleasure  I  enjoyed  in  feeling 
myself  again  on  a  good  English  bed  after 
six  months*  sleeping  on  the  ground."  And 
yet  great  disappointment  awaited  him  here. 
There  were  no  letters  from  home,  no  ti- 
dings from  family  or  friends.  An  English 
vessel  lay  in  the  harbor  and  a  berth  was  of- 
fered him.  No  one  would  have  complained 
if  he  had  accepted  the  opportunity  to  go 
home.  He  prepared  his  journals,  made 
reports  and  observations,  put  them  aboard 
the  Forerunner,  turned  his  back  on  the  ship 
and  let  it  set  sail.  The  ship  was  lost  off 
Madeira,  and  all  her  passengers  perished 
but  one.  Of  course,  all  Livingstone's  papers 
were  lost.  Upon  hearing  of  it  he  stopped, 
reproduced  his  dispatches  and  maps.  It 
was  like  Carlyle's  rewriting  his  French 
Revolution  after  its  destruction  in  Mill's 
household.  Why  did  he  not  go  home?  He 
had  promised  the  natives  that  he  would  see 
them  home.  He  had  pledged  his  word  to 
Sekeletu  that  he  would  return  with  the  men, 
and  his  word  to   the   black    men  of  Africa 

4  45 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

was  just  as  sacred  as  it  would  have  been  if 
pledged  to  the  queen.  He  kept  it  as  faith- 
fully as  an  oath  made  to  Almighty  God.  It 
involved  a  journey  nearly  two  years  in 
length,  a  line  of  march  two  thousand  miles 
long,  through  jungles,  swamps,  and  desert, 
through  wscenes  of  surpassing  beauty.  But 
it  was  two  years  from  that  day  before  he 
came  out  on  the  east  coast  at  Quilimane, 
and  from  this  time  he  v/as  the  best  known, 
best  loved,  and  most  perfectly  trusted  man 
in  Africa.  Everywhere  and  every  day  he 
had  preached.  He  had  healed  the  sick  of 
their  diseases.  He  had  discovered  the  Vic- 
toria Falls  and  the  two  magnificent  ranges 
which  were  free  from  the  fever  and  the  fly. 
At  the  junction  of  the  Loangwa  and  Zam- 
bezi rivers  he  thought  that  his  end  had 
come,  and  he  writes  in  his  diary,  "  O  Jesus, 
grant  me  reliance  on  thy  powerful  hand 
and  resignation  to  thy  will."  Then,  think- 
ing of  home  and  of  what  he  might  say  if  he 
could  get  back  to  England,  he  adds:  '*  But 
wilt  thou  not  permit  me  to  plead  for  Africa? 
See,  Lord,  how  the  heathen  rise  up  against 
me,  as  against  thy  Son.  A  guilty,  weak, 
andhelpless  worm,  on  thy  kind  arms  I  fall." 
Then  the  vScotch  pluck  asserts  itself,  and  he 

4G 


David  Livingstone 

writes :  **  Should  such  a  man  as  I  flee !  Nay, 
verily,  I  shall  take  observations  of  latitude 
and  longitude  to-night,  though  they  be  my 
last.  I  feel  quite  calm  now,  thank  God. 
O  Lord,  remember  me  and  thy  cause  in 
Africa."  And  from  the  perils  of  this  day 
the  Lord  delivered  him,  and  he  was  able  to 
make  his  report,  transmitting  to  the  Lon- 
don societies  a  map  of  Central  Africa,  a 
map  of  the  highest  value. 

At  this  very  time  Sir  Roderick  Murchison 
writes  him  of  the  honor  paid  him  by  the 
Royal  Geographical  Society  for  the  great- 
est triumph  in  geographical  research  effected 
in  our  times,  and  tells  him  why  the  society 
has  conferred  its  gold  medal  upon  him. 
But  the  heart  of  the  doctor  is  larger  than 
the  heart  of  the  explorer,  and  his  chief  hu- 
man joy  was  that  he  had  discovered  what 
he  believed  to  be  a  remedy  for  the  deadly 
fever. 

It  was  now  sixteen  years  since  he  had  left 
England,  and  there  was  no  reason  why  he 
should  not  return.  So,  on  the  9th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1856,  he  reached  his  home  once  more, 
and  found  himself  almost  the  most  famous 
man  in  London.     Honors  poured  upon  him 

enough  to  turn  a  man's  head.     The  Royal 
47 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

Society  held  a  special  meeting-  of  welcome. 
He  was  introduced  as  the  man  who  had 
traveled  over  eleven  thousand  miles  of  Afri- 
can ground,  had  done  incalculable  service  in 
the  way  of  exploration,  had  opened  a  whole 
world  of  immortal  souls  to  the  Gospel,  and 
had  glorified  the  British  name  by  faithfully 
keeping  his  word  to  the  black  men  to  whom 
he  had  given  it.  Mrs.  Livingstone  stood 
by  his  side,  and  Lord  vShaftesbury  paid  her 
equal  tribute  with  her  husband,  and  all  Eng- 
land said  Amen.  Livingstone  was  pre- 
sented to  the  royal  family,  and  honored 
with  the  freedom  of  London.  Everywhere 
the  most  distinguished  honors  were  paid 
him.  He  remained  in  England  less  than 
two  years,  working  night  and  day  upon  his 
books,  dedicating  the  profits  immediately  to 
the  cause  of  opening  Africa.  But  all  the 
time  he  was  thinking,  not  of  England,  but 
of  the  Dark  Continent.  He  said  of  himself 
and  his  wife,  '*  Whoever  stays,  we  will  go." 
He  had  further  plans  of  exploration.  ' '  But 
always,"  as  he  writes,  **  the  end  of  the  ex- 
ploration is  the  beginning  of  the  enterprise." 
His  own  country — Scotland — honored  him 
with  the  freedom  of  its  cities.  Its  univer- 
sities gave  him  their  highest  degrees.    There 

48 


David  Livingstone 

were  public  receptions  and  a  public  testi- 
monial. There  were  farewell  meetings,  at- 
tended by  nobles  and  scholars,  and  at  last, 
as  he  started  away,  Sir  Roderick  Murchison 
said:  *'  Notwithstanding  months  of  lauda- 
tion and  a  shower  of  all  university  honors, 
he  is  the  same  honest,  true-hearted  David 
Livingstone  as  when  he  came  forth  from  the 
wilds  of  Africa."  At  Cambridge  he  de- 
livered a  memorable  address,  in  which  he 
said :  "  It  is  deplorable  to  think  that  one  of 
the  noblest  of  our  missionary  bodies,  the 
Church  Missionary  Society,  is  compelled  to 
send  to  Germany  for  missionaries.  The  sort 
of  men  who  are  wanted  for  missionaries  are 
such  as  I  see  before  me.  I  beg  to  direct 
your  attention  to  Africa.  I  know  that  in  a 
few  years  I  shall  be  cut  off  in  that  country 
which  is  now  open.  Do  not  let  it  be  shut 
again.  I  go  back  to  Africa  to  try  to  open  a 
path  for  commerce  and  Christianity.  Do 
you  carry  out  the  work  which  I  have  begun. 
I  leave  it  with  you." 

Sixteen  months  he  remained  at  home, 
and  went  away  with  the  net  result  of  his 
visit,  as  was  said  at  the  farewell  dinner,  that 
he  had  found  Africa  the  Dark  Continent, 
and  left  it  the  most  interesting  part  of  the 

49 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

globe  to  Englishmen,  He  went  back  as  the 
queen's  consul,  wearing  the  gold  band  about 
his  cap,  but  he  went  once  more  for  the  same 
old  enterprise.  A  public  reception  was 
given  him  at  Cape  Town,  where  six  years 
before  they  had  hated  him.  In  1858  he  ex- 
plored the  Zambezi,  in  '59  the  Shire,  in  '60 
he  discovered  Lake  Nyassa,  and  in  '61  he 
explored  the  river  Rovuma.  He  estab- 
lished the  sites  of  mission  stations,  preached 
constantly,  and  carried  on  a  religious  and 
scientific  correspondence  with  the  leading 
societies  of  England.  His  purpose,  recorded 
away  back  at  the  beginning,  grew  stronger 
rather  than  weaker.  In  1862  he  preached 
to  the  tribes  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Nyassa. 
He  found  that  twenty  thousand  slaves  were 
dragged  from  that  region  alone  and  sold  at 
Zanzibar,  and  he  learned  that  as  many  more 
were  cruelly  murdered.  His  letters  thrilled 
the  civilized  world  as  he  exposed  the  iniq- 
uity of  this  horrid  traffic. 

Mrs.  Livingstone  returned  to  Scotland  in 
1859,  placed  the  children  in  school,  and  in 
1862  rejoined  her  husband  in  Africa.  For 
the  Dark  Continent  they  intended  to  live 
and  die  together,  but  less  than  six  months 
after  her  return  her  health  gave  way,  and 

50 


David  Livingstone 

on  the  banks  of  the  Shire  the  daug-hter  of 
Robert  Moffat,  the  wife  of  David  Living- 
stone, lay  down  to  her  everlasting  rest. 
Then  the  man  who  had  never  feared  the 
face  of  beast  or  foe,  who  had  faced  death 
countless  times,  cried  out  like  a  stricken 
child,  "  For  the  first  time  in  my  life  I  want 
to  die."  The  body  of  Mary  Livingstone  was 
buried  under  a  baobab  tree  at  Shiipanga. 
But  Livingstone's  work  was  not  done.  Even 
grief  must  not  hinder  him  from  doing  it.  He 
must  penetrate  to  the  fountains  of  the  Nile, 
and  he  must  break  up  the  infamous  slave 
trade.  In  1 864  he  returned  to  London  again, 
with  two  objects  in  view:  the  exposure  of 
the  slave  trade,  and  the  securing  of  means 
with  which  to  open  a  new  mission  above  the 
Portuguese  lines.  On  the  first  of  August, 
1864,  he  was  with  his  mother  and  children 
at  Hamilton.  Only  his  eldest  boy,  Robert, 
a  boy  of  eighteen,  was  absent.  The  boy 
had  gone  to  Natal  in  the  hope  of  reaching 
his  father.  Failing  in  that,  he  had  crossed 
to  America,  enlisted  in  the  Federal  army, 
had  been  badly  wounded,  taken  prisoner, 
died  at  last  in  the  hospital,  and  was  buried 
in  the  National  Cemetery  at  Gettysburg. 
There  is  something  very  fitting  in  all  that. 

51 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

The  father  was  giving  his  life  for  the  per- 
fect liberty  of  the  black  man  in  the  Dark 
Continent ;  the  boy  giving  his  for  the  lib- 
erty of  the  black  man  and  the  integrity  of 
the  nation,  and  was  buried  at  last  in  the 
spot  over  which  sounded  Lincoln's  immortal 
words. 

Livingstone  was  everywhere  received  with 
the  highest  honors.  He  was  with  the  Turk- 
ish ambassador  when  the  crowd  cheered, 
and  Livingstone  said,  ''These  cheers  are 
for  you."  And  the  ambassador  replied, 
' '  No,  I  am  only  what  my  master  made  me ; 
you  are  what  you  made  yourself."  Back 
again  after  a  few  months  in  1866,  he  reached 
the  African  coast,  ascended  the  Rovuma, 
disappeared  for  three  years,  visited  Lakes 
Meroe  and  Tanganyika.  Meantime  he 
preached  the  Gospel  to  thousands  and 
tens  of  thousands.  He  still  found  the  vil- 
lages of  which  Moffat  had  spoken  to  him 
years  before,  where  the  name  of  Jesus  had 
never  been  spoken.  And  this  was  his  faith  : 
' '  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  God  is 
too  exalted  to  notice  our  smallest  affairs. 
A  general  attends  to  the  smallest  details 
of  his  army.  A  sparrow  cannot  fall  to  the 
ground    without   your    Father.      With    his 

52 


David  Livingstone 

ever-loving  eye  upon  me  I  may  truly  go 
to  the  front  with  the  message  of  peace  and 
good  will."  The  Portuguese  intercepted 
his  letters  and  cut  off  his  supplies.  He 
writes  that  he  is  near  the  source  of  the 
Nile,  and  possibly  in  the  wilderness  where 
Moses  once  was. 

In  1 87 1  his  strength  utterly  failed.  His 
feet  ulcerated,  his  teeth  came  out,  he  lay 
in  his  low  hut  for  eighty  days,  and  read  his 
Bible  four  times  through.  He  writes  upon 
the  fly  leaf,  ''  No  letters  for  three  years.  I 
have  a  sore  longing  to  finish  and  go  home, 
if  God  wills."  Relief,  letters,  and  supplies 
had  all  been  sent  to  him,  but  he  never  re- 
ceived them.  Many  of  the  letters  that  he 
wrote  never  reached  their  destination.  But 
he  had  accomplished  his  purpose.  He  had 
exposed  the  slave  trade.  In  1871  he  reached 
Ujiji,  a  worn,  exhausted,  skeleton  of  a  man. 
The  world  had  not  heard  from  him  for  years, 
and  the  anxious  question  everywhere  was, 
'*  Is  he  dead  or  alive?  "  The  Royal  Society 
sent  out  a  search  expedition. 

One  day  Henry  M.  Stanley  was  sitting  at 

a  hotel  in  Madrid,  when    a    telegram  was 

handed  to  him  which  read  :    "  Come  to  Paris 

on  important  business.     Bennett."     On  his 
53 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

arrival  Mr.  Bennett  said,  ''Where  do  you 
think  Livingstone  is?"  The  correspond- 
ent could  not  tell — could  not  tell  whether 
he  was  alive,  of  course.  ''  Well,"  said  Mr. 
Bennett,  ''  I  think  he  is  alive  and  that  he 
may  be  found,  and  I  am  going  to  send  you 
to  find  him."  And  this  was  the  order: 
*'  Take  what  money  you  want,  but  find 
Livingstone."  In  January,  1871,  Stanley 
reached  Zanzibar,  and  began  to  organize  his 
expedition.  For  eleven  months  this  deter- 
mined man  went  on  through  incredible 
hardships.  He  coaxed  the  weary,  whipped 
the  stubborn.  The  feet  of  some  were  bleed- 
ing from  thorns ;  others  foil  by  the  way, 
but  on  they  went.  Once  in  his  journey 
Stanley  wrote :  ' '  No  living  man  shall  stop 
me.  Only  death  can  prevent  me  ;  but  death 
— not  even  this.  I  shall  not  die  ;  I  will  not 
die  ;  I  cannot  die.  Something  tells  me  I  shall 
find  him.  And  write  it  larger,  y?;/^  ///;//,  find 
him!"  Even  the  words  are  inspiring.  One 
day  a  caravan  passed  and  reported  that  a 
white  man  had  just  reached  Ujiji.  Stan- 
ley's heart  thumped  as  he  asked  them,  ''  Was 
he  young  or  old?  "  ''  He  is  old;  he  has 
white    hair  on    his   face;   he  is  vsick."     So 

Stanley  pushed  on  night  and  day  until  they 
54 


David  Livingstone 

came  in  sight  of  Ujiji.  "  Unfurl  the  flags 
and  load  the  guns,"  said  Stanley,  his  nerves 
quivering  with  excitement.  And  the  flags 
floated  out,  and  the  guns  thundered  over 
the  plain.  And  they  were  answered  by  hun- 
dreds of  Africans  with  shouts.  Suddenly 
Stanley  heard  a  voice  say,  in  good  English, 
"  Good  morning,  sir."  He  was  startled, 
and  asked  abruptly,  "  Who  the  mischief  are 
you?  "  "I  am  Susi,  the  servant  of  Dr.  Liv- 
ingstone." Then  a  thrill  went  through 
Stanley's  soul,  and  all  the  fatigues  and  the 
perils  of  that  year  were  forgotten.  Let 
Stanley  tell  the  story  himself: 

*  *  First  his  two  servants  appeared ;  by 
and  by  the  doctor.  As  I  advanced  slowly 
toward  him  I  noticed  he  was  pale,  looked 
wearied,  had  a  gray  beard,  wore  a  bluish  cap 
with  a  faded  gold  band  around  it,  had  on  a 
red-sleeved  waistcoat  and  a  pair  of  gray 
tweed  trousers.  I  would  have  run  to  him, 
only  I  was  a  coward ;  would  have  embraced 
him,  only  did  not  know  how  he  would  re- 
ceive me.  vSo  I  did  what  cowardice  and  false 
pride  suggested,  walked  deliberately  to  him, 
took  off  my  hat  and  said,  *  Dr.  Livingstone, 
I  presume  ?  '  *  Yes,'  said  he,  with  a  kind  smile, 
lifting  his  cap.      I  replaced  my  hat,  he  his 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

cap,  and  we  grasped  hands.  And  I  said,'  1 
thank  God  I  am  permitted  to  see  you,'  and 
he  answered,  *  I  feel  thankful  that  I  am  here 
to  welcome  you.' 

Of  course  Stanley  was  supplied  with  all 
that  the  good  man  needed.  He  brought 
Livingstone  letters  for  which  he  had  pa- 
tiently waited  for  years.  He  brought  him 
news.  It  was  two  full  years  since  Living- 
stone had  heard  anything  from  Europe. 
The  coming  of  Stanley  revived  Livingstone's 
spirits. 

Stanley  remained  with  him  for  months. 
The  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Herald 
took  his  first  lessons  in  exploration  at  the 
hands  of  the  master.  He  grew  into  enthu- 
siasm and  hero  worship.  He  wrote:  *'You 
may  take  any  point  in  Dr.  Livingstone's 
character  and  analyze  it  carefully,  and  I 
will  challenge  an}^  man  to  find  a  fault  in 
it."  And  he  had  discovered  Livingstone's 
vSecret.  "  His  religion,"  he  writes,  "is  a 
constant,  earnest,  sincere  practice.  It  is 
neither  demonstrative  nor  loud,  but  mani- 
fests itself  in  a  quiet,  practical  way,  and  is 
always  at  work.  In  him  religion  exhibits 
its  loveliest  features ;  it  governs  his  conduct, 
not  only  toward   his  servants,  but  toward 

56 


David  Livingstone 

the  natives,  the  bigoted  Mohammedans,  and 
all  who  come  in  contact  with  him.  Without  it 
Livingstone,  with  his  ardent  temperament, 
his  enthusiasm,  his  high  spirit  and  courage, 
must  have  been  uncompanionable  and  a  hard 
master.  Religion  has  tamed  him  and  made 
him  a  Christian  gentleman,  the  most  com- 
panionable of  men  and  indulgent  of  mas- 
ters." Stanley  received  and  mastered  a  true 
lesson  in  the  treatment  of  natives.  He  tried 
to  induce  the  doctor  to  go  home  with  him. 
But  Livingstone's  heart  was  resolute.  The 
old  explorer  set  his  face  as  a  flint.  He  did 
not  feel  that  his  work  was  done.  Stanley 
started  eastward,  and  the  old  man  in  the 
gray  clothes,  with  bended  head  and  slow 
steps,  returned  to  his  solitude.  ''  I  took  one 
more  look  at  him,"  said  Stanley.  "  He  was 
standing  near  the  gate  of  Kwihaha,  with 
his  servants  near  him.  I  waved  my  hand- 
kerchief to  him,  and  he  responded  by  lifting 
his  cap."  This  was  Livingstone's  last  sight 
of  a  white  man.  The  old  world  has  borne 
on  her  surface  few  nobler  or  more  pathetic 
figures  since  time  began. 

In  1S72,  March  19,  he  writes:  **  My  birth- 
day! My  Jesus,  my  King,  my  Life,  my 
All!     I   again    dedicate  my  whole   self  to 

51 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

thee.  Accept  me.  And  grant,  O  gracious 
Father,  that  ere  this  year  is  gone  I  may 
finish  my  work.  In  Jesus's  name  I  ask  it. 
Amen." 

May  I ,  lie  writes :  ' '  Finished  a  letter  to 
the  New  York  Herald  to  elicit  American  zeal 
to  stop  the  east  coast  slave  trade.  I  pray  for 
a  blessing  upon  it  from  the  All-Gracious." 
The  last  sentence  of  this  letter  is  the  one 
finally  inscribed  on  Livingstone's  tomb. 
'*  All  I  can  add  in  my  loneliness,"  it  runs, 
**is.  May  Heaven's  rich  blessing  come 
down  on  everyone^ — American,  English, 
Turk — who  will  help  to  heal  this  open  sore 
of  the  world!  " 

Weary  months  followed — months  of  plans, 
of  travels,  of  toils,  of  hardships — and  the 
last  of  April,  1873,  a  year  after  Stanley  had 
left  him,  he  had  reached  the  village  of  Ilala, 
at  the  southern  end  of  Lake  Bangweolo. 
He  had  made  his  observations  and  written 
his  journal  carefully ;  had  drawn  maps  and 
given  his  orders.  The  heroic  spirit  was 
still  struggling  to  finish  the  heroic  work. 
But  on  the  morning  of  the  first  of  May, 
1873,  at  four  o'clock,  the  boy  who  lay  at  his 
door  called  in  alarm  for  Susi,  fearing  their 
master   was    dead.      "  By   the    candle    still 

68 


David  Livingstone 

burning  they  saw  him,  not  in  bed,  but  kneel- 
ing at  the  bedside  with  his  head  buried  in 
his  hands  upon  the  pillow.  The  sad  yet 
not  unexpected  truth  soon  became  evident ; 
he  had  passed  away  without  a  single  at- 
tendant on  the  farthest  of  all  his  journeys. 
But  he  had  died  in  the  act  of  prayer — prayer 
offered  in  that  reverential  attitude  about 
which  he  was  always  so  particular;  com- 
mending his  own  spirit,  with  all  his  dear 
ones,  as  was  his  wont,  into  the  hands  of  his 
Saviour ;  and  commending  Africa — his  own 
dear  Africa — with  all  her  woes  and  sins  and 
wrongs,  to  the  Avenger  of  the  oppressed 
and  the  Redeemer  of  the  lost." 

The  behavior  of  his  African  servants 
after  his  death  is  beyond  all  praise.  First, 
they  removed  and  buried  his  heart.  Then 
they  dried  his  body  in  the  sun,  wrapped  it 
in  cloths,  lashed  it  to  a  pole,  and  set  out  on 
their  homeward  march.  It  was  a  weary 
journey;  exposures,  sickness,  oppositions, 
all  combined  to  make  it  difficult.  Nine 
weary  months  tested  their  steadfastness  and 
devotion,  and  on  Saturda}^  April  i8,  1874, 
nearly  a  year  after  his  death,  the  remains 
of  the  great  missionary  were  committed  to 
their  resting  place  in  Westminster  Abbey. 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

The  black  slab  that  marks  the  end  of  the 
pilgrimage  bears  this  inscription  : 

Brought  by  Faithful  Hands 

Over  Land  and  Sea, 

Here  Rests 

DAVID  LIVINGSTONE, 

Missionary,  Traveler,  Philanthropist. 

Born  March  19,  181 3, 

At  Blantyre,  Lanarkshire. 

Died  May  i,  1873, 

At  Chitambo's  Village,  Ilala. 

For  thirty  years  his  life  was  spent  in  an  unwearied 
effort  to  evangelize  the  native  races,  to  explore  the  un- 
discovered secrets,  and  abolish  the  desolating  slave  trade 
of  Central  Africa,  and  where,  with  his  last  words,  he 
wrote : 

"  All  I  can  add  in  my  loneliness  is,  May  Heaven's  rich 
blessing  come  down  on  everyone — American,  English, 
Turk — who  will  help  to  heal  this  open  sore  of  the 
world." 

The  tributes  are  all  of  a  kind.  This 
from  Sir  Bartle  Frere  will  answer  as  a  speci- 
men of  all  the  rest : 

''As  a  whole,  the  work  of  his  life  will 
surely  be  held  up  in  ages  to  come  as  one  of 
singular  nobleness  of  design  and  of  un- 
flinching energy  and  self-sacrifice  in  execu- 
tion. It  will  be  long  ere  any  one  man  will 
be  able  to  open  so  large  an  extent  of  un- 
known   land     to    civilized    mankind ;     yet 

60 


David  Livingstone 

longer,  perhaps,  ere  we  find  a  brighter  ex- 
ample of  a  life  of  such  continued  and  useful 
self-devotion  to  a  noble  cause.  I  could 
hardly  venture  to  describe  my  estimate  of 
his  character  as  a  Christian,  further  than  by 
saying  that  I  never  met  a  man  who  fulfilled 
more  completely  my  idea  of  a  perfect 
Christian  gentleman,  actuated  in  what  he 
thought  and  said  and  did  by  the  highest  and 
most  chivalrous  spirit,  modeled  on  the  pre- 
cepts of  his  great  Master  and  Exemplar." 

His  heart  lies  buried  under  the  tree  in 
Ilala,  his  bones  in  Westminster  Abbey; 
but  ' '  the  end  of  the  exploration  is  the  be- 
ginning of  the  enterprise,"  and  his  life  goes 
steadily  on.  Long  ago  Melville  B.  Cox 
wrote :  ' '  Though  a  thousand  die,  let  not 
Africa  be  given  up."  And  that  word,  with 
Livingstone's  last  prayer  there,  is  as  quick 
and  powerful  in  the  Church  as  it  has  ever 
been.  Such  men  as  Livingstone  constitute 
Christianity's  last  answer  to  heathenism. 
Christianity  makes  such  men  as  this.  This 
is  why  it  is  worth  while  to  send  Christianity 
to  all  the  world.  But  Christianity  must  go 
in  the  person  of  such  men  as  this.  It  is 
said  that  the  Protestant  Church  is  liberal  in 
its  use  of  Bibles,  and  the  Roman  Catholic 

5  61 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

Church  liberal  in  its  use  of  men.  The 
Church  which  shall  redeem  Africa  must  be 
liberal  with  both.  We  must  send  our  men, 
living  epistles,  with  the  open  book  in  their 
hands.  The  methods  of  Livingstone  and 
the  spirit  of  Livingstone  have  perpetual 
value  for  the  evangelization  of  that  Dark 
Continent.  In  Stanley's  great  address  be- 
fore the  Methodist  preachers  of  New  York 
he  used  these  words : 

*  *  Now,  cast  your  eye  at  the  south  part  of 
Africa.  There  the  European  has  come, 
and  he  is  spreading  his  beliefs  and  his 
creeds  and  his  religion  in  like  manner,  and 
introducing  his  system  of  civilization ;  and 
they  are  advancing  steadily  and  slowly  to- 
ward the  equatorial  region,  until  by  and  by 
they  are  arrested  in  like  manner  as  they 
come  under  the  influence  of  the  Zambezi. 
But  one  bold  man,  a  missionary,  left  the 
ranks  of  those  who  were  pressing  on  toward 
the  north,  and  pushed  on  and  on  until  he 
came  to  the  Zambezi.  He  felt  that  influ- 
ence, but,  undaunted,  he  pressed  on  and 
crossed  Africa  to  St.  Paul  de  Loanda.  He 
returned  again  with  his  native  followers  to 
Linyanti,  and  the  chief  of  the  Makololo 
gave  him  permission  to  take  them  to  the 

62 


David  Livingstone 

seacoast.  The  faithful  natives  of  inner 
Africa  waited  for  the  return  of  their  master 
near  the  banks  of  the  Zambezi,  close  to  the 
sea.  Livingstone  went  home,  received  due 
honor  for  what  he  had  done,  and  returned 
to  Africa.  He  took  up  his  march  back,  and 
made  journeys,  and  finally  died  in  Ilala,  at 
the  southern  end  of  Lake  Bangweolo.  But 
if  you  look  at  the  illustration  of  his  route 
you  will  see  that  it  is  the  rude  figure  of  the 
cross.  And  now  you  may  be  able  to  draw 
the  moral  point  I  have  to  tell  you.  You 
have  asked  me  what  have  been  the  causes 
of  missionaries  being  imperiled.  Wherever 
that  good  man  went  he  was  received.  A 
few  rejected  him,  but  the  majority  listened 
to  him  calmly  and  kindly,  and  some  of  them 
felt  quite  ready  to  be  of  his  profession  and 
of  his  belief.  But-  the  words  that  he 
dropped  were  similar  to  those  of  the  angels 
heard  over  Bethlehem,  '  Peace  on  earth, 
good  will  to  men.'  On  the  other  hand,  in 
northern  Africa  it  was  an  attempt  to  in- 
vade by  violence,  and  it  failed,  and  there 
v/as  not  one  that  had  the  courage  to  step 
out  of  the  ranks  and  press  on.  They  re- 
turned. But  this  lone  missionary  pressed 
on   and   on   until  he  had  drawn  the  rude 

63 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

figure  of  a  cross  on  the  southern  continent  of 
Africa,  and  then  he  said  with  his  dying 
words :  '  All  I  can  add  in  my  loneliness  is, 
May  Heaven's  rich  blessing  come  down  on 
everyone — American,  English,  Turk — who 
will  help  to  heal  this  open  sore  of  the 
world.'  And  the  'cross  turns  not  back.' 
The  open  sore  will  be  healed.  Africa  will 
be  redeemed." 

64 


n 

aieyanber  fl>*  flDacha?,  tbe  Ibero 
of  'Ulflanba 

BY 

J.  T.  Gracey,  D.D 


Alexander  M.   Mackay 


II 
Alexander  M,  Mackay/  the  Hero  of  Uganda 

A  STUDENT  of  the  operations  of  divine 
Providence  is  frequently  surprised  with  the 
marvelous  connections  established  between 
men  and  events  widely  separated  from  each 
other  by  place  and  time.  A  striking  illus- 
tration of  this,  or  rather,  many  such,  are 
found  in  the  modern  history  of  missions  on 
the  continent  of  Africa,  the  grouping  of 
which  requires  a  bold  hand. 

A  little  African  lad  is  stolen  by  slavers 
from  his  home  in  West  Africa,  allotted  to  a 
chief,  swapped  for  a  horse,  sold  again  in 
the  slave  market,  and  again  to  Portuguese 
slavers,  shipped  for  foreign  parts,  captured 
and  released  by  a  British  man-of-war,  sent 
to  school  at  Sierra  Leone,  educated  for  the 
ministry,  becomes  Bishop  of  the  Niger 
and  Archdeacon  of  the  English  Church. 
He  was  a  lad  of  a  dozen  years  on  the  deck 
of  the  man-of-war  which  captured  the 
slaver.     There  was  on  this  vessel  a  young 

*Mackay  is  pronounced   Mac-kay',  the  emphasis  being  on 
the  last  syllable. 

6Y 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

officer,  whose  son,  George  Shergold  Smith, 
furnishes  a  link  in  this  story  which  will  be 
mentioned  later  on. 

The  noble  life  of  Adjai,  the  slave  boy 
baptized  as  Samuel  Crowther,  who  became 
Bishop  of  the  Niger,  was  devoted  to  mis- 
sionary work  on  the  west  coast  of  Africa 
and  up  the  valley  of  the  Niger ;  while  far 
away  on  the  east  coast  of  the  continent,  dis- 
tant as  far  as  San  Francisco  from  Ireland, 
in  Abyssinia,  another  young  missionary, 
John  Ludwig  Krapf ,  entered  upon  his  work 
almost  simultaneously  with  Samuel  Crow- 
ther on  the  west  coast,  who  had  as  im- 
portant a  providential  work  to  perform  in 
the  redemption  of  Africa  as  any  man  whose 
biography  has  been  given  to  the  world. 
He  was  a  great  linguist,  a  great  explorer, 
who  endured  exposure,  suffering,  and  sick- 
ness, was  abandoned  by  his  servants  in  an 
enemy's  country,  came  well-nigh  dying  of 
famine,  buried  his  wife  and  child  among 
wild  tribes,  nevertheless  prosecuted  his 
mission  from  the  northeast  coast  into  the 
Galla  country,  and  dying,  bequeathed  '  *  to 
every  missionary  coming  to  East  Africa " 
the  "idea  of  a  chain  of  missions"  across 
the   entire    ''Dark   Continent."     "  Every- 

68 


Alexander  M.  Mackay 

one,"  he  wrote,  ''  who  is  a  real  patriot  will 
open  this  bequest  and  take  his  portion  out 
of  it  as  a  fellow-partaker  of  the  tribulation, 
of  the  patience,  and  of  the  kingdom  of  our 
God." 

Krapf  did  not  quail  at  the  cost.  He  said, 
"The  first  resident  of  the  new  mission  ground 
is  a  dead  person  of  the  missionary  circle ; 
our  God  bids  us  first  build  a  cemetery  before 
we  build  a  church  or  dwelling  house,  show- 
ing us  by  this  lesson  that  the  resurrection 
of  East  Africa  must  be  effected  by  our  own 
destruction."  When  three  mechanics  died 
he  wrote:  '''That  is  fine  business,'  you 
will  say,  '  the  heavy  part  of  the  army  is 
beaten,  and  the  light  division  completely 
unnerved,  and  yet  you  will  conquer  Africa, 
will  draw  a  cham  of  missions  between  the 
east  and  the  west." 

But  Crowther  at  the  west  and  Krapf  at 
the  east  welded  the  first  links  of  that  chain 
which  in  the  succeeding  half-century  were 
destined  to  be  joined  to  others  till  the  whole 
is  now  in  sight  of  being  constructed. 

Krapf's  explorations  conduced  to  the 
greater  acquaintance  with  the  interior  of 
northern  Africa.  But  they  did  far  more. 
The  discovery  of  snow-capped  mountains, 

69 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

where  the  maps  had  shown  only  sandy  des- 
ert, excited  European  geographers,  but  they 
did  not  half  so  much  arouse  Europe  as  did 
his  hints  gathered  from  natives  from  time 
to  time  about  the  existence  of  a  great  lake 
which  they  declared  could  not  be  traversed 
from  end  to  end  in  a  hundred  days.  This 
information  stirred  the  mind  of  western 
Europe.  It  resulted  in  the  expedition  of 
Burton  and  Speke  to  discover  the  sources 
of  the  Nile,  and  the  ultimate  revealing  of 
the  great  chain  of  lakes  so  familiar  to  us 
now,  of  East  Central  Africa,  one  of  which — 
Nyassa — was  reached  also  by  Livingstone 
from  the  south.  In  1861  Speke  and  Grant 
explored  the  Nyanza,  naming  it  Victoria 
Lake,  and  showed  the  Nile  flowing  out  of 
it  northward.  It  is  a  great  inland  sea, 
3,300  feet  above  sea-level,  covering  a  terri- 
tory *'  larger  than  that  of  Scotland."  Stan- 
ley came  a  little  later  to  find  the  hut  where 
Livingstone  had  died  on  his  knees,  to  turn 
Mtesa,  King  of  Uganda,  from  Mohammed- 
anism to  Christianity,  and  to  appeal  to 
Christendom  to  send  missionaries  into  his 
kingdom;  and  then,  still  later,  to  discover 
the  Congo  and  reveal  a  water  highway 
' '  from  salt  sea  to  salt  sea."    All  this  power- 

10 


Alexander  M.   Mackay 

fully  stirred  the  Christians  of  western  Eu- 
rope, and  a  vigorous  missionary  policy  for 
the  lake  region  of  East  Central  Africa  was 
inaugurated. 

We  return  for  a  moment  to  the  west  coast 
to  show  another  ''link"  in  the  providential 
development  of  this  transcontinental  chain 
of  missions.  We  have  alluded  to  the  young 
officer  on  the  man-of-war  which  rescued  the 
slave  boy  who  became  a  bishop  in  the  great 
Church  of  England.  When  the  Church  of 
England  determined  on  attempting  the 
great  lake  missions  of  East  Central  Africa, 
and  looked  about  for  a  competent  person  to 
organize  and  conduct  their  expedition,  in 
whom  should  they  find  their  agent  but  in  a 
son  of  the  young  officer  of  the  British  man- 
of-war  which  set  the  little  slave  lad  free  on 
the  west  coast?  This  was  none  other  than 
Lieutenant  George  Shergold  Smith,  a  name 
sacred  forever  in  missionary  history.  He 
had  gained  experience  in  campaigning  in 
Africa  in  the  Ashantee  war ;  later  became  a 
student  of  theology  in  England,  and  in  de- 
claring his  love  for  the  African  said  to  the 
Society,  ' '  Send  me  to  Africa.  I  am  willing 
to  take  the  lowest  place."     This  son  of  the 

Royal  Navy  officer,   now  a  young   captain 
11 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

and  theological  student,  was  immediately 
joined  by  another,  the  son  of  a  Free  Church 
of  Scotland  minister — Alexander  M.  Mackay 
— whose  story  it  is  proposed  now  briefly  to 
sketch. 

''  Mackay  of  Uganda,"  as  he  is  familiarly 
spoken  of,  was  never  in  ''Orders"  as  a 
minister  of  the  Gospel,  but  his  illustrious  ex- 
ample as  a  layman  furnishes  inspiration  to  a 
far  more  numerous  company  than  that  of 
the  ministry,  and  will  impel  others  who  have 
never  felt  called  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  take 
upon  them  the  vows  of  the  sacred  office  to 
join  the  great  band  of  clerical  workers. 
There  are  indications  that  the  body  of  the 
Church — laymen — are  to  find  vast  opportu- 
nity in  the  missionary  fields  of  the  world, 
along  not  only  professional  lines  as  physi- 
cians and  educators,  but  also  along  well- 
nigh  all  the  vocations  as  mechanics  and 
tradesmen,  as  engineers,  inventors,  and 
''  pathfinders,"  in  the  introduction  of  Chris- 
tian civilization  as  a  handmaid  to  the  Gospel 
minister.  The  career  of  Mackay  of  Uganda 
should  be  carefully  considered  by  all  ad- 
ministrators of  missionary  schemes,  for  the 
light  it  will  shed  on  the  great  questions  con- 
nected with  the  employment  of  lay  mission- 

72 


Alexander  M.   Mackay 

aries,  in  all  countries — eminently  in  Africa. 
But  Mackay's  character  and  career  will  re- 
pay close  examination  by  the  entire  body  of 
the  laity  of  the  Christian  Churches,  specially 
by  young  men,  as  affording  them  help  in 
character-building.     The  heroic  element  is 
so  prominent,  the  experiences  so  thrilling  at 
times,  and  the  noble  balance  of  all  manly 
qualities  so  remarkable,  that,  in  fact,  there 
is  no  class  of  readers  who  will  not  be  in- 
structed and  interested  by  the  life  story  of 
this  man,  who,  when  gauged  by  his  mighty 
achievements,  "  was  not  too  young  to  die." 
Alexander  M.   Mackay  was  born  in  the 
village  of  Rhynie,  Aberdeenshire,  Scotland, 
October  13,  1849.     His  father.  Rev.  Alex- 
ander Mackay,  LL.D.,  was  a  fine  specimen 
of  the  "  plain  living,  high  thinking  "  north- 
ern  Scotch;   the   manse  was  the  resort  of 
other  ''high  thinkers,"  brainy  and  brawny 
men,  and  his  sister,  in  the  Preface  to  the 
biography  of  her  brother,  says  of  the  father, 
his   * '  painstaking  interest  in  the  training 
and  early  education  of  his  children  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  noble  self-sacrificing  life  " 
of  this  pioneer  missionary  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society  of  Uganda.     At  three 
years  of  age  we  find  the  subject  of  our  sketch 

V3 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

reading  the  New  Testament ;  at  seven,  Par- 
adise Lost,  Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  and  kindred  literature,  and 
for  four  years  thereafter  he  was  a  great  de- 
vourer  of  books.  His  father  taught  him 
geography,  astronomy,  and  geometry.  From 
the  age  of  eleven  till  he  was  thirteen  his  in- 
terest was  diverted  from  books  to  engines, 
blacksmithing,  and  the  trades;  at  thirteen 
his  interest  in  book  study  revived,  and  he 
made  progress  in  mathematics,  but  was  at 
odd  bits  of  time  interested  in  photography, 
shipbuilding,  and  the  like.  His  mother 
died  when  he  was  sixteen,  charging  him  to 
search  the  Scriptures.  At  eighteen  he  en- 
tered a  teacher's  training  college,  and  after- 
ward studied  applied  mechanics,  engineer- 
ing, higher  mathematics,  physics,  and,  one 
year,  surveying  and  fortification.  He  was 
twenty-four  years  old  when  he  went  to  Ger- 
many, where  he  became  the  draughtsman 
of  a  large  engineering  establishment  at  Ber- 
lin. He  was  intent  on  spreading  a  knowl- 
edge of  evangelical  truth  among  the  Ger- 
man people  while  prosecuting  his  studies 
and  occupied  with  his  emxployment.  In  1875, 
when  twenty-six  years  of  age,  he  offered 
himself  for  service  in  missionary  work  in 

V4 


Alexander  M.  Mackay 

Mombasa,  but  the  place  was  already  filled. 
He  again  offered  himself  for  service  in  Af- 
rica, when  Stanley's  call  for  men  for  Uganda 
reached  him  in  Germany.  The  Church  of 
England  Missionary  Society  accepted  him 
gladly,  the  next  candidate  after  Lieutenant 
Smith,  and  the  party  left  England  April  25, 
1876,  for  Lake  N3^assa. 

There  could  be  no  question  as  to  the 
motive  which  inspired  him  in  tendering  his 
services  to  the  Missionary  Society.  Zinzen- 
dorf  cried  out,  ''  I  have  but  one  passion;  it 
is  He,  He  alone."  "  God  first  put  into  my 
heart  a  compassion  for  the  poor  souls  of 
these  Indians,"  says  the  devoted  Eliot.  ''  I 
remembered  a  time,  out  in  the  woods  back 
of  the  Andover  Seminary,"  wrote  Judson, 
' '  when  I  was  almost  disheartened.  Every- 
thing looked  dark.  No  one  had  gone  out 
from  this  country.  The  way  was  not  open. 
The  field  was  far  distant  and  in  an  un- 
healthy climate.  I  knew  not  what  to  do. 
All  at  once  that  '  last  command  '  seemed  to 
come  to  my  heart  directly  from  heaven.  I 
could  doubt  no  longer,  but  determined  on 
the  spot  to  obey  it  at  all  hazards  for  the 
sake  of  pleasing  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

Thus  has  it  been  with  all  great  mission- 

75 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

ary  souls.  Thus  was  it  with  the  young 
engineer  Mackay.  He  was  pushing  the 
acquisition  of  his  knowledge  in  this  secular 
line,  but  his  whole  soul  "burned  for  the 
deliverance  of  Africa." 

The  heroic  element  dominated  him  from 
the  start.  "Though  a  thousand  fall,  let 
not  Africa  be  given  up,"  said  the  devoted 
Melville  B.  Cox,  when,  as  the  first  Ameri- 
can Methodist  missionary  to  any  foreign 
country,  he  was  starting  for  Africa.  And 
thus  Mackay's  words  on  the  threshold  of 
his  departure  for  Uganda  rank  among  the 
great  utterances  of  the  world's  greatest 
souls.  The  farewell  interview  of  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Missionary  Society  under 
whose  auspices  he  and  seven  others  were 
about  departing  as  notable  missionary 
' '  pathfinders  "  was  about  concluded.  They 
had  listened  to  tender  words  of  encourage- 
ment and  received  their  final  instructions, 
delivered  by  Rev.  Henry  Wright,  the  hon- 
orary secretary.  Each  in  turn  made  re- 
sponse. Mackay  came  last  because  he  was 
the  youngest  of  the  invincible  band.  His 
words  are  worthy  to  be  written  in  gold. 
"  There  is  one  thing,"  he  said,  "which  my 
brethren  have  not  said,  and  which  I  want 

16 


Alexander  M.   Mackay 

to  say.  I  want  to  remind  the  committee 
that  within  six  months  they  will  probably 
hear  that  one  of  us  is  dead."  The  words 
startled  everyone  present,  and  there  was 
profound  silence.  ''  Yes,"  he  resumed,  *'  is 
it  at  all  likely  that  eight  Eng-lishmen  should 
start  for  Central  Africa  and  all  be  alive  six 
months  after?  One  of  us  at  least — it  may 
be  I — will  surely  fall  before  that.  But 
what  I  want  to  say  is  this,"  and  the  solem- 
nity deepened  as  he  concluded,  ' '  when  the 
news  comes  do  not  be  cast  down,  but  send 
some  one  else  immediately  to  take  the  va- 
cant place."  The  soldiers  in  the  great 
charge  of  Balaklava  who  rode  into  the 
"jaws  of  death,"  with  "cannon  to  right 
of  them,  cannon  to  left  of  them,  cannon 
in  front  of  them,"  were  brave  and  dis- 
ciplined, and  the  "rush"  was  under  the 
immediate  passion  of  the  moment,  but 
Mackay  was  not  in  the  "  fray;  "  there  was 
no  great  audience ;  it  was  in  a  quiet  mis- 
sionary committee  room  in  Salisbury  Square, 
London,  that  he  uttered  these  cool  words 
of  noblest  courage  and  consecration. 

Of  the  eight  who  started  on  that  mission 
from  the  qiiiet  little  mission  room  in  Lon- 
don only  three  ever  reached  their  destina- 
G  77 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

tion  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Nyassa.  James 
Robertson,  a  skilled  artisan,  died  of  fever 
shortly  after  his  arrival  on  the  coast  of 
Africa,  before  the  last  of  the  party  started 
inward.  It  was  again  true,  as  in  Krapf's 
case,  "  the  first  resident"  was  a  dead  per- 
son of  the  missionary  circle.  The  medical 
member  of  the  expedition,  Dr.  John  Smith, 
soon  after  succumbed  to  sickness,  and  the 
leader  of  the  expedition.  Lieutenant  George 
Shergold  Smith,  son  of  the  Royal  Navy  of- 
ficer who  witnessed  Samuel  Crowther's  re- 
lease, was  murdered,  and  with  him  Mr.  T. 
O'Neil,  second  in  command  of  the  little 
craft  Daisy,  scarcely  more  than  launched  on 
the  west  side  of  Lake  Nyassa.  W.  M.  Rob- 
ertson and  G.  J.  Clark  returned  to  England 
— only  two  of  the  original  eight  were  left, 
Rev.  C.  T.  Wilson  on  the  shore  of  the  lake, 
and  Mackay  hundreds  of  miles  away,  not 
yet  having  reached  the  field. 

THE     ROAD-BUILDER 

Little  idea  can  be  had  of  an  African  jun- 
gle even  where  forest  trees  are  neither  large 
nor  numerous.  The  thicket  of  vines  and 
underwood  is  such  that  Mackay,  speaking 
of  the  road  from  the  coast  to  the  interior, 

78 


Alexander  M.   Mackay 

said  he  could  not  ''pull  a  donkey  througli 
it."  He  undertook  to  construct  a  rough 
road  for  bullock-wagons  with  only  native 
laborers  ignorant  of  such  work.  He  equipped 
forty  men  with  American  hatchets,  English 
axes,  Snider  sword-bayonets,  picks,  spades, 
and  saws,  cocoanut-ropes,  a  small  grind- 
stone, and  a  donkey  load  of  nails,  and  for 
fifty  miles  cut  this  road  through  dense 
jungle,  w^here  even  when  a  tree  was  "  cut 
down  "  it  would  not  fall  over  by  reason  of 
the  thick  creepers  clustering  in  festoons 
from  one  tree  to  another.  Over  one  great 
ravine  he  built  a  bridge  hard  as  iron,  to  the 
astonishment  of  the  inhabitants  who  gath- 
ered about  their  fires  in  the  evening  to  talk 
about  the  ''big  road,"  which  was  finished 
in  about  a  hundred  days.  Mackay  walked 
backward  and  forward  the  two  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  which  he  constructed,  a  half- 
dozen  times  over.  This  was  done  with  such 
food  as  could  be  got,  and  sleeping,  as  he 
says,  in  a  cowbyre,  a  sheepcote,  a  straw 
hut  not  larger  than  a  dog  kennel,  a  hen- 
house, and  often  no  house  at  all,  caring 
little  which,  so  he  could  get  tolerably  clear 
of  ants  and  mosquitoes ;  the  black  ants  he 
declared  w^orse  than  any  pestilence  of  the 

19 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

plagues  of  Egypt.  His  English  food  was  ex- 
hausted because  thieves  took  a  fancy  to  it, 
and  he  subsisted  on  thick  porridge,  which 
tasted  like  sawdust  and  ashes.  He  believed 
this  native  food  might  be  good  enough  for 
Europeans  if  only  the  natives  were  not  too 
greedy  to  cook  it  properly,  or  cleanly  enough 
to  keep  the  sand  out  of  the  meal  when 
grinding  it.  He  had  through  all  these  months 
been  exposed  to  the  jealousy  of  native  tribes, 
who  looked  upon  his  "  big  road  "  as  only  a 
highway  for  Europeans  who  hated  the  slave 
trade.  Enormous  stretches  of  the  country 
through  which  he  passed  were  mercilessly 
devastated  by  Arab  slave-hunters,  great  car- 
avans of  whom  were  carrying  tons  of  ivory 
to  the  coast,  each  with  ' '  a  string  of  living 
little  ones  trotting  on  with  necks  linked  to- 
gether to  be  disposed  of  to  the  highest  bid- 
der at  the  coast." 

A  good  deal  of  the  detail  of  this  road- 
building  experience  has  one  way  and  another 
been  preserved  to  us,  though,  like  most  such 
explorers,  Mackay  far  preferred  making  his- 
tory or  civilization  to  writing  about  it. 
Speke  was  used  to  say  he  would  rather  walk 
across  Africa  again  than  write  an  account  of 
his  first  journey,  and  Mackay  declared  he 

80 


Alexander  M.   Mackay 

would  rather  brave  a  hundred  days  in  this 
unsettled  country  than  set  his  mind  to  report 
the  events  of  a  single  day. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  Mackay 's 
party  had  set  sail  from  Teignmouth  harbor, 
March  ii,  1876,  in  the  Highland  Lassie,  an 
eighty-ton  sailing  yacht.  But  Mackay  did 
not  sight  the  Victoria  Nyanza  till  June  12, 
1878,  having,  as  we  have  seen,  been  taken 
ill  on  the  journey  to  the  coast,  and  sent  back, 
and,  after  recovering,  set  at  building  two 
hundred  and  thirty  miles  of  road  from  the 
coast  inland  to  Mpwapwa,  which  occupied 
him  more  than  two  years,  though  his  chief 
work  was  to  have  been  to  take  out  the  small 
steamboat,  the  Daisy,  and  set  it  up  on  the 
great  Victoria  Nyanza.  Others  did  this  be- 
fore Mackay  arrived ;  six  of  the  members 
of  the  mission  perished  ;  and  v/hen  at  length 
he  reached  the  inland  sea  he  found  the 
little  craft  sadly  out  of  repair. 

With  his  first  glance  at  the  lake,  just  be- 
fore reaching  Kager,  he  shouted  ' '  Tha- 
lassa !  Thalassa !  "  We  will  let  him  tell  his 
own  story  of  what  he  found  on  his  arrival ; 
the  freed  slaves  and  runaway  slaves  of  Zan- 
zibar, having  been  left  in  charge  after  Lieu- 
tenant  vSmith   was   murdered,  had   helped 

81 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

themselves  to  what  they  valued,  and  the 
rest  was  sadly  spoiled.     Mackay  wrote  : 

"  In  a  huge  hut,  lent  us  by  Kaduma,  the 
chief  of  the  place,  I  found  all  that  was  left 
of  the  valuable  property  of  the  expedition, 
except  such  articles  as  have  already  been 
taken  to  Uganda.  Piled  in  heaps  promiscu- 
ously lay  boiler  shells  and  books,  cowrie - 
shells  and  candle-molds,  papers  and  piston 
rods,  steam  pipes  and  stationery,  printers' 
types  and  tent  poles,  carbolic  acid,  cartridges 
and  chloroform,  saws  and  garden  seeds, 
traveling  trunks  and  toys,  tins  of  bacon  and 
bags  of  clothes,  pumps  and  plows,  portable 
forges  and  boiler  fittings,  here  a  cylinder, 
there  its  sole  plate,  here  a  crankshaft, 
there  an  eccentric.  Despair  might  well  be 
found  written  on  my  features  as  I  sat  down 
after  two  years'  march  to  rest  and  look 
round  on  the  terrible  arrangement." 

He  found  the  Daisy  without  a  sound  plank 
in  her ;  the  rays  of  the  sun  had  split  them, 
the  teeth  of  the  hippopotamus  had  pierced 
them,  and  the  white  ants  had  honeycombed 
them.  All  the  parts  were,  however,  here, 
after  having  been  separated  into  manloads 
of  seventy  pounds,  and  carried  seven  hun- 
dred miles  overland. 

82 


Alexander  M.   Mackay 

Day  after  day  the  natives  stood  round  in 
wonder  while  Mackay  patched  the  planks  and 
calked  the  cracks,  sprawled  on  the  ground, 
with  hammer  and  chisel,  copper  plates,  zinc 
sheets,  cottonwood,  nails,  screws,  bars  of 
iron,  brass  rods  and  bolts,  the  use  for  which 
no  native  could  guess,  beneath  the  vessel, 
which  gradually  grew  before  the  admiring 
natives,  who,  like  all  Africans  of  Central 
Africa,  knew  of  no  better  way  to  fasten  two 
pieces  of  wood  together  than  lashing. 

THE    COUNTRY   OF    UGANDA — POLITICAL,    SO- 
CIAL 

We  have  said  nothing  of  the  country  or 
people  of  Uganda  to  whom  Mackay  and  his 
companions  were  designated  as  missionaries, 
the  first  from  any  civilized  country.  It  will 
be  well  to  keep  in  mind  the  root-word  Ganda, 
to  which  prefixes  are  attached.  U  or  Bu  be- 
fore it  makes  it  the  country  of  Ganda ;  as 
Uganda,  Buganda.  If  the  prefix  be  Wa  or 
Ba  it  indicates  the  people  of  the  country, 
Waganda  or  Baganda ;  if  the  prefix  used  is 
Ki,  Lu,  or  Ru,  it  means  the  language  of 
Ganda. 

Uganda,  or  Buganda,  covers,  with  its  de- 
pendencies, some  seventy  thousand  square 

83 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

miles  bordering  on  the  northeast  coast  of 
Lake  Nyanza,  or  Victoria  Lake,  the  second 
largest  lake  in  the  world — second  only  to 
Lake  Superior.  Uganda  contains  the  rich- 
est and  most  fertile  part  of  the  section  of 
the  great  lakes  of  eastern  equatorial  Africa. 
The  people  (Waganda  or  Baganda)  are  sup- 
posed to  belong  to  the  great  Bantu  family, 
and  number  about  five  million  souls.  The 
Swahili  language,  which  dominates  the  east- 
ern coast  and  is  extensively  used  over  large 
parts  of  central  and  southern  Africa,  is 
spoken  fluently  in  the  capital  of  Uganda 
and  generally  in  the  market  towns. 

The  government  of  Uganda  is  a  moder- 
ately limited  monarchy,  the  king  being  su- 
preme and  absolute  master  of  the  land, 
though  in  state  affairs  his  power  is  measur- 
ably controlled  by  three  hereditary  vassals, 
called  "  wakungu;"  the  Governor  of  Udi,  a 
sort  of  "  mayor  of  the  palace,"  being  also  a 
member  of  the  council,  and,  in  the  king's 
absence,  takes  his  place.  He  is  nominated 
by  the  king.  The  governing  body  is  com- 
posed of  these  four  persons,  together  with 
other  grand  persons,  feudatory  lords  of  the 
district  and  palace  dignitaries,  which  to- 
gether constitute  a  privy  council,  or  a  sort 

84 


Alexander  M.   Mackay 

of  cabinet.  The  three  ''wakungu"  select 
the  successor  of  a  king,  on  his  death,  from 
among  his  children. 

Polygamy  prevails,  and  there  are  more 
women  than  men,  as  in  war  the  Waganda 
kill  the  males  and  make  captives  of  the  fe- 
males. The  women  perform  all  the  labor, 
the  strength  of  the  men  being  reserved  for 
war.  A  young  man  only  works  till  he  can, 
by  purchase  or  by  war,  get  wives  enough  to 
perform  the  labor  in  his  stead.  They  treat 
their  slaves  with  gentleness  and  the  stran- 
ger with  kindness,  but  have  small  regard 
for  human  life.  When  Speke  first  entered 
their  country  he  found  them  well  clad,  and 
they  have  made  much  progress  since  that 
time. 

In  matters  of  religion  they  are  in  strong 
contrast  with  natives  of  the  west  coast. 
They  agree  in  recognizing  one  God;  but 
these  of  East  Central  Africa  have  no  idols  or 
fetiches,  while  their  Supreme  Being,  who 
made  the  world  and  mankind,  is  esteemed 
to  be  too  exalted  to  pay  any  attention  to 
human  interests.  Their  worship  is  chiefly 
confined  to  inferior  deities,  good  and  bad 
demons  supposed  to  inhabit  special  locali- 
ties, known  by  the  general  name  of  hibari 

85 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

(spirits).  The  principal  of  these  is  a  sort 
of  Neptune  who  inhabits  the  lake  to  control 
its  waters,  and  whose  influence  extends 
more  or  less  over  the  whole  country;  he 
enters  some  human  beings,  through  whom 
he  speaks  as  an  oracle,  and  becomes  the 
source  of  disease,  and  controls  the  rain,  war, 
famine,  or  pestilence,  and  also  foretells 
events.  When  about  to  make  a  voyage  the 
Waganda  seek  to  propitiate  this  spirit; 
canoes  are  gathered  together,  the  chief 
holding  a  banana  on  the  uplifted  paddle  of 
his  canoe  over  the  water,  praying  at  the 
same  time  for  a  prosperous  voyage ;  or  they 
may  pray  to  other  spirits  supposed  to  abide 
in  hills  for  protection  for  their  cattle,  each 
being  known  by  his  specific  name.  There 
are  also  river  spirits,  and  former  kings  be- 
come demigods.  They  are  specially  super- 
stitious and  constantly  use  charms  of  pieces 
of  wood,  horns,  or  rubbish  for  protection 
against  evil.  Medicine  men  have  peculiar 
power  with  them  as  regular  doctors  as  well 
as  in  the  role  of  fortune-tellers.  Foreign 
religions  have  made  but  little  impression 
upon  them.  Moslems,  after  sixty  years 
among  them  as  traders,  made  no  converts. 
Mtesa  would  never  submit  to  circumcision, 

80 


Alexander  M.  Mackay 

and  though  at  times  he  favored  Moham- 
medanism, the  Arabs  never  claimed  him  as 
a  convert.  Mr.  Wilson,  missionary,  how- 
ever, thought  on  his  first  acquaintance  with 
the  people  that  the  lower  classes  could  be 
drawn  to  Christianity. 

THE    MISSIONARY    MECHANIC 

Mtesa,  King  of  Uganda,  had  received 
Wilson,  the  only  other  survivor  besides 
Mackay,  at  his  court,  and  erected  for  him  a 
tiger-grass  hut  a  mile  from  the  palace.  He 
was  fairly  friendly,  and  allowed  religious 
services  to  be  held  regularly  on  Sunday 
mornings  when  the  king  hoisted  his  "  flag," 
a  * '  nondescript  thing  consisting  of  pieces 
of  red,  blue,  and  white  calico  sewn  to- 
gether." Passages  of  Scripture  were  read 
in  Kiswahili,  the  king  translating  into  Lu- 
ganda,  even  at  times  exhorting  the  people 
to  become  Christians,  though  he  never  did 
so  himself.  For  three  months  Wilson  lived 
in  Uganda  alone.  He  returned  to  the  south 
end  of  the  lake,  where  he  met  Mackay,  ar- 
rived from  the  coast. 

Wilson  and  Mackay  started  for  Uganda, 
arriving,  after  being  wrecked  in  the  Batsf 
on  the  way,   February    14,   1879.     Mackay 

87 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

soon  had  two  workshops  of  wickerwork 
plastered  with  clay,  and  built  a  carriage  for 
the  king  to  be  drawn  by  bullocks.  He  was 
always  finding  time,  if  only  late  at  night,  to 
teach  the  natives  letters.  He  was  occu- 
pied, too,  in  trench-making,  translating, 
making  a  vocabulary,  learning  the  lan- 
guage, washing,  ironing,  brick-making  and 
candle-making,  planting,  printing,  and  a 
host  of  things  besides.  More  than  fifty 
men  and  boys  came  to  him  daily  for  in- 
struction. His  house  and  his  workshop 
were  filled  with  visitors  admiring  his  versa- 
tility of  genius  and  the  results  of  it.  The 
king  even  asked  for  baptism,  but  on  condi- 
tions which  could  not  be  complied  with. 
Mackay's  teaching  was  by  what  he  called 
the  '' look-and-say  "  method,  for  which  he 
prepared  large  fly-sheets  in  the  Uganda 
language.  He  carved  wooden  types  for 
making  reading  sheets,  giving  away  and 
teaching  alphabets  from  the  types  as  he 
finished  cutting  them.  Many  a  day  he 
worked  hard  at  vice  and  lathe  to  get  plan- 
tains, which  was  the  substitute  for  bread ; 
but  pupils  were  at  his  side  while  he  worked 
at  the  bench,  even  chiefs  shouting  out  their 
sheets  side  by  side  with  their  slaves.     He 


Alexander  M.   Mackay 

even  had  a  limited  font  of  lead  types,  cast 
by  himself,  before  one  year  had  passed  at 
Uganda 

OPPOSITION 

The  Arabs  had  no  fondness  for  the  mis- 
sionaries, because  they  antagonized  not  only 
Mohammedanism,  but  the  slave  trade,  of 
which  they  were  the  principal  agents. 
Mohammedanism  has  been  spread  all 
through  this  country  by  firearms.  A  vil- 
lage was  selected  by  the  slave  hunters,  sur- 
rounded at  night,  the  able-bodied  men 
slaughtered  or  captured,  and  the  whole 
secured  for  transportation  to  the  coast  at 
Zanzibar  for  the  slave  market.  They  were 
frequently,  however,  offered  the  alternative 
of  turning  Mohammedans,  in  which  cavSe 
those  able  for  war  were  made  to  join  the 
raid  on  other  villages.  All  those  captured 
were  taken,  not  out  of  the  country, but  traded 
for  elephants'  tusks,  ivory  being  as  great  an 
object  with  the  Arabs  as  slaves.  These  Mos- 
lems had  extended  their  influence  greatly 
through  Uganda,  and  Mtesa,  the  king,  was 
turned  from  allegiance  to  that  faith  by  Mr. 
Stanley,  who  translated  some  portions  of  the 
Scriptures  for  his  use,  and  induced  him  to 
appeal  to  England  for  teachers  of  Christianity. 

89 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

The  old  heathen  element,  however, 
stoutly  held  its  influence,  and  there  came  a 
great  revival  for  /udari  worship ^  which  burst 
suddenly  one  day  on  the  king  and  the  mis- 
sionaries. They  sought  to  compel  the  king 
to  forbid  Mackay  teaching  his  religion,  and 
to  reinstate  the  lubari  at  court.  Mackay 
wrote:  ''  For  several  months  I  have  found 
the  word  lubari  more  or  less  in  every  one's 
mouth.  Many  spoke  the  name  with  awe, 
while  others  refused  to  say  anything,  good 
or  bad,  of  such  a  being."  He  then  learned 
that  the  lubari  was  a  spirit  personified  in  an 
old  woman  living  on  the  lake.  Traders 
were  unable  to  cross  the  lake  just  now  be- 
cause the  lubari  was  about  to  visit  this  sec- 
tion of  the  coast  of  the  lake.  This  lubari 
(woman)  was  coming  to  the  capital  to  cure 
the  king  of  his  sicknesses.  This  goddess  was 
known  by  the  name  of  Mukasa,  and  Mac- 
kay so  actively  antagonized  the  lubari  that 
he  gained  the  title  ''Anti- Mukasa."  Added 
to  all  else  the  Jesuits  reached  Uganda  and 
were  doing  all  in  their  power  to  proselyte 
the  Christians  and  gain  control  of  the  king. 
Thus  the  complications  thickened. 

Poor  Mtesa  was  vacillating,  now  asking 
for  baptism,  now  refusing  to  hoist  the  flag 

90 


Alexander  M.   Mackay 

over  the  chapel  for  Sunday  service,  and 
again  ordering  the  return  of  the  old  Moslem 
worship  and  theory  *' Allah  Akbar."  He 
was  Christian,  Moslem,  or  worshiper  of 
the  liibari^  all  in  turn,  or  neither  of  them, 
as  the  whim  or  the  passion  of  the  hour  pre- 
vailed. But  he  had  unlimited  power  of  life 
and  death,  was  weakened  by  inherited 
superstitious  fears,  and  everyone,  without 
exception,  in  his  realm  knew  that  at 
Mtesa's  order  his  head  might  come  off  any 
hour,  with  or  without  cause,  be  he  noble, 
chief,  or  peasant. 

Human  sacrifices  were  performed  on  a 
large  scale  at  Mtesa's  court.  His  diviners 
recommend  these  at  times  as  a  remedy  for 
the  king's  disease,  and  the  executioners  are 
ordered  out  to  collect  victims. 

FIGHTING  SUPERSTITION 

Mackay  or  any  other  missionary  was  no 
less  subject  to  the  whim  of  this  spoiled, 
flattered,  vacillating  tyrant  than  was  any 
other  person  in  his  realm.  Hence  it  may 
be  seen  that  it  required  coolness,  courage, 
and  infinite  tact  to  make  any  headway  with 
him  without  losing  one's  own  head.  That 
was  a  contingency  never  absent,  and  Mac- 

91 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

kay  was  never  free  from  peril  from  the  mon- 
arch nor  from  the  superstitious  people. 

*'  I  sit  before  you,"  said  Mackay  to  the 
king  one  day,  '*  your  servant  and  the  serv- 
ant of  Almighty  God,  and  in  his  name  I 
beg  of  you  have  no  dealings  with  this 
lubari,  whether  a  chief  tries  to  persuade  you 
to  do  so  or  a  common  man  advises  you." 
**  If  this  Mukasa  is  a  liibari  then  he  is  a 
god,"  he  continued,  when  arguing  at  court, 
*'and  thus  there  are  two  gods  in  Uganda 
— the  Lord  God  Almighty  and  Mukasa; 
but  if  Mukasa  is  only  a  man,  as  many  say 
he  is,  then  there  are  two  kings  in  Uganda 
— Mtesa,  whom  we  all  acknowledge  and 
honor,  and  this  Mukasa,  who  gives  himself 
out  as  some  great  one." 

The  adroitness  with  which  Mackay  kept 
up  the  religious  discussion  with  the  king, 
the  court,  the  Moslems,  and  the  defenders  of 
the  liibari  can  only  be  appreciated  when 
followed  day  by  day  with  all  the  turns  of 
the  debate  and  the  complexity  of  events. 

When  at  last  the  king  declared  they  would 
all  leave  the  Christians  and  Moslems  and  go 
back  to  the  religion  of  their  fathers,  Mackay 
reminded  him  that  he  was  in  Uganda  be- 
cause the  king  had  requested  Stanley  to  ask 

92 


Alexander  M.  Mackay 

for  white  men  to  teach  his  people.  The 
king  parried  this  by  saying  he  wanted  them 
to  teach  his  people  how  to  make  powder 
and  guns.  Mackay  said  he  had  never  re- 
fused to  work  for  the  king,  and  there  was  not 
a  chief  present  for  whom  he  had  not  done 
work,  and  like  Paul,  showing  his  chains,  he 
exhibited  his  hands  black  with  working  in 
iron  every  day.  But  as  to  merely  working 
for  them,  he  came  to  Uganda  for  no  such 
purpose,  and  he  would  return  to  England  if 
that  was  all  they  wanted  of  him. 

But,  strange  to  say,  that  was  the  last  thing 
either  chiefs  or  king  would  consent  to,  so 
far  as  Mackay  was  concerned.  Other  mis- 
sionaries might  leave,  be  put  out  of  the 
country,  or  be  put  to  death  in  it,  but 
Mackay  was  their  wizard  at  work,  all  the 
while  rendering  himself  so  necessary  to 
them  as  artisan,  inventor,  road-builder,  boat- 
builder,  house-builder,  engineer,  printer, 
doctor,  or  what  not ;  and  though  always  as 
shrewd  a  theologian  as  he  was  anything 
else,  he  was  not  to  be  dispensed  with. 
Thus  it  occurred  that  the  lay  missionary 
was  in  favor,  had  influence  and  permanence 
of  position,  which  the  mere  teacher  and 
preacher  had  not. 

7  93 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

It  was  not  merely  to  the  king  and  his 
court  that  Mackay  was  a  missionary,  nor  was 
he  confined  to  his  industries  as  a  teacher. 
One  day  he  bought  a  powerful  charm 
to  give  the  crowd  a  lesson  in  the  worthless - 
ness  of  idols.  Some  said,  in  answer  to  his 
questions,  that  the  Inbari  or  spirit  was  in  the 
charm.  ''Will  it  burn?"  asked  Mackay. 
"  O  no,  the  lubari  will  not  burn."  ''  Is  not 
this  charm  mine?  Did  I  not  buy  it?" 
said  Mackay."  "Yes,  yes,  it  is  yours." 
**  Then  may  I  not  do  with  it  what  I  like?  " 
**0  yes."  ''Very  good,"  said  the  mis- 
sionary. Then  taking  out  his  pocket  lens 
he  made  fire  with  the  sun's  rays,  gathered 
a  bundle  of  wood,  and  soon  had  a  brilliant 
blaze.  "  Can  your  witches  make  fire  out  of 
the  sun  as  I  have  done?  "  he  asked.  "  No, 
no."  "  Then  you  see  I  am  clevererthan  these 
gods  whom  you  worship?"  "Yes,  you 
make  magic,"  they  said.  "  Well,  you  say 
there  is  magic  in  this  charm  which  I  have 
bought?"  "Yes."  "Well,  let  us  see;" 
and  he  threw  the  charm  into  the  fire,  and  it 
was  vSoon  ashes.  "You  are  a  god,"  some 
said  ;  others,  "  You  are  a  devil ;"  but,  being 
neither  the  one  nor  the  other,  he  was  ever 
on  the    alert  to  instruct  the  people  in  the 

94 


Alexander  M.  Mackay 

truth,    a  veritable  powerful   missionary  to 
the  common  people. 

We  have  no  space  to  interweave  a  history 
of  the  Uganda  Mission,  not  even  an  account 
of  the  reinforcements  from  time  to  time 
arriving  from  England  and  their  part  of  the 
work,  especially  the  church  organization 
which  fell  to  them  as  clergymen.  But 
Mackay  had  been  training  native  Baganda, 
and  many  whom  he  brought  to  Christ 
afterward  suffered  martyrdom.  The  other 
missionaries  were  greatly  indebted  to 
the  foundation  work  of  Mackay.  Mr. 
O' Flaherty,  one  of  the  missionaries,  wrote: 
*'We  have  a  text-book  of  theology,  the 
Lord's  Prayer,  the  Creed,  the  Decalogue, 
texts  of  vScripture  so  arranged  that  they 
teach  the  plan  of  salvation,  the  duties  of  a 
subject  to  his  sovereign,  and  sovereign  to 
subject,  and  all  to  Christ."  These  had 
been  printed  by  Mackay — three  hundred 
copies,  besides  an  equal  number  of  alpha- 
betical spelling  sheets  in  Luganda,  * '  no 
small  work  on  a  toy  press,"  as  Mr.  O'Fla- 
herty  said.  These  two  years,  1882  and 
1883,  were  altogether  a  time  of  encourage- 
ment.    The  Rev.  R.  P.  Ashe,  whose  name 

is  linked  with  the  after  history  of  the  Mis- 
95 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

sion,  arrived  in  Uganda  in  April,  1883.  A 
few  converts  had  been  baptized.  Four 
lads  were  baptized  March  18,  1882,  and 
Sembera,  a  slave  of  one  of  the  chiefs,  who 
had  received  instruction  under  Wilson  and 
Mackay,  had  learned  to  write  without  ever 
having"  a  lesson  in  writing,  wrote  his  appli- 
cation for  baptism  to  Mr.  Mackay  in 
Luganda  with  a  painted  piece  of  speargrass 
and  some  ink  of  ''dubious  manufacture," 
received  baptism,  taking  the  name  of 
Mackay. 

A   NEW    KING ''THE    GREAT   TRIBULATION  " 

In  October,  1884,  Mtesa  died,  and  died 
a  heathen.  His  son,  Mwanga,  a  weaker  and 
far  wickeder  man  than  the  father,  came  to 
the  throne.  From  various  causes  he  soon 
began  a  persecution  against  the  Christians. 
The  Arabs  reported  that  the  missionaries 
were  harboring  malefactors,  and  orders 
were  given  to  arrest  all  Baganda  found  on 
their  premi.ses.  Mr.  Mackay  a^sked  leave  of 
the  king  to  crOvSS  the  lake.  An  army  was 
raised  intended  to  entrap  and  kill  him  the 
next  morning.  Some  of  the  native  Chris- 
tians were  arrested,  taken  to  the  borders  of 
a  dismal  swamp,  a  rough  scaffold  was  erected 

96 


Alexander  M.  Mackay 

and  heaped  with  firewood.  The  crowd 
mocked  their  poor  victims.  The  chief  said, 
'*  O,  you  know  Isa  Masiya  (Jesus  Christ), 
you  believe  in  the  resurrection.  Well,  I 
shall  burn  you,  and  see  if  it  be  so."  The 
lads  behaved  bravely,  and  one  report  says 
they  sang  in  Luganda,  ''Daily,  daily,  sing 
the  praises."  They  were  tortured  before 
death,  their  arms  being  cut  off  and  flung 
upon  the  burning  scaffold.  The  youngest 
pleaded  that  they  would  do  him  the  one 
favor  of  throwing  him  unmaimed  upon  the 
flames,  but  they  would  not  heed  his  request. 

That  night  Mackay  wrote  in  his  diary, 
*'  Our  hearts  are  breaking."  The  death  of 
the  young  martyrs  was  only  the  beginning 
of  persecution  that  acquired  the  title  of 
"  the  great  tribulation." 

Bishop  Hannington  and  all  his  party,  re- 
cently arrived  in  Africa  from  England, 
were  all  murdered  at  the  king's  command 
as  they  approached  Uganda  by  the  north- 
eavSt  end  of  the  lake,  that  being  called  "  the 
back  door  of  Uganda,"  and  everyone  was 
forbidden  to  approach  the  country  by  that 
route — a  fact  unknown  to  the  bishop.  This 
w^as  owing  to  political  jealousies  which  can- 
not be  here  narrated.      Mackay  wrote  Octo- 

97 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

ber  20,  ' '  After  dark  Ismail  came  to  tell  ns 
that  messengers  had  returned  from  Busoga 
with  the  tidings  that  the  white  men  had 
been  killed  and  all  their  porters.  O  night 
of  sorrow!  What  an  unheard-of  deed  of 
blood!'' 

The  year  1885  ended  in  great  sorrow  to 
the  missionaries.  What  was  there  to  pre- 
vent Mwanga  from  taking  their  lives  when 
he  had  not  stuck  at  murdering  their  chief  ? 
The  king  complained  that  the  missionaries 
knew  all  his  secrets  from  his  own  pages — 
Christian  lads — who  with  wonderful  devo- 
tion and  courage  continued  to  visit  the 
mission  houses  to  apprise  the  missionaries, 
from  time  to  time,  of  their  peril.  Roman 
Catholics  and  Protestants  were  alike  in 
jeopardy,  and  all  became  far  more  so  after 
Hannington's  murder,  as  Mwanga  feared 
vengeance  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain.  The 
missionaries  knew  they  were  more  and 
more  in  peril,  and  Mackay  tried  to  get  the 
boats  (twelve  miles  distant)  in  order,  to 
facilitate  their  flight  when  necessary  and  if 
possible. 

June  28,  1886,  Mackay,  writing  to  his 
father,  said,  ''Only  a  month  ago  a  violent 
persecution   against   Christians   broke  out, 

98 


Alexander  M.   Mackay 

and  they  have  been  murdered  right  and 
left.  *  The  Christians  are  disobedient  and 
learn  rebellion  from  the  white  man.  I  shall 
kill  them  all,'  said  the  king.  He  ordered 
their  arrest,  and  a  dozen  were  hacked  to 
pieces  the  first  day  and  their  members  left  ly- 
ing in  all  directions  on  the  road.  Bands  were 
sent  out  in  all  directions  to  catch  and  kill." 

ALONE 

The  king  gave  out  that  the  missionaries 
would  not  be  allowed  to  leave  the  country, 
but  would  be  held  as  hostages,  as  he  feared 
the  English  would  be  upon  him  for  the 
murder  of  Hannington.  August  28,  1886, 
Mackay  wrote  to  his  father:  "  Recently 
Ashe  and  I  have  been  trying  to  get  per- 
mission to  leave.  This  was  refused.  Next 
we  tried  to  get  leave  for  one  of  us  to  go. 
The  king  has  again  and  again  absolutely 
refused  permission  for  me  to  leave  the 
country,  but  he  has  allowed  Ashe  to  go.  .  .  . 
I  must  be  content  to  remain  alone,  yet  not 
alone.  I  can  ever  be  of  service  to  the 
scattered  remnant  of  the  infant  Church  ;  and 
our  God  will  prepare  the  way  for  better 
things  to  come." 

Mackay  was  now  left  alone,  the  sole  sur- 
99 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

vivor  once  more  of  all  the  mission  force,  for 
eleven  months,  in  Uganda.  His  position 
was  extremely  uncomfortable  and  disquiet- 
ing, being  constantly  suspected  by  the 
chiefs  and  king  of  having  some  secret 
understanding  with  the  government  of  Eng- 
land to  obtain  possession  of  the  country. 
Not  only  was  he  restricted  in  his  move- 
ments, but  again  and  again  plots  were  laid 
to  destroy  him,  though  he  made  no  attempt 
to  escape,  but  continued  busy,  now  making 
an  enormous  flagvStaff  for  the  king,  now 
translating  Scriptures,  now  freely  using  the 
printing  press,  and  now  seeking  to  bring 
Mwanga  to  his  plans  for  free  communica- 
tion with  Emin  Bey.  He  wrote  to  his 
friends  in  England  that  he  had  not  the 
slightest  desire  to  escape  if  he  could  do  a 
particle  of  good  by  staying.  The  Eleanor 
was  in  port  twelve  miles  away,  and  he  might 
possibly  make  a  dash  for  it,  but  he  did  not 
feel  himself  warranted  in  doing  so  at  this 
time.  Meanwhile  he  was  endeavoring 
amid  the  multiplicity  of  his  industries  to 
complete  the  translation  of  the  gospel  of 
Matthew,  which  he  did,  rewriting  the  whole 
to  the  end,  having  it  in  type  as  far  as  the 
twenty-third   chapter.     In   case  of  sudden 

100 


Alexander  M.   Mackay 

expulsion  the  manuscript,  he  thought,  might 
be  saved  and  the  mere  printing  done  some- 
where else.  Books  and  papers  continued  to 
be  purchased,  and  it  was  difficult  to  keep  his 
stock  well  up.  His  sheets  of  the  Litany 
were  exhausted,  and  he  had  but  a  few  copies 
of  the  hymns  on  hand. 

Although  the  rest  of  the  missionaries  had 
been  permitted  to  leave  Uganda,  and  the 
king  refused  to  let  Mackay  go  under  the 
pretension  of  his  great  affection  for  him,  yet 
his  enemies,  the  Arabs,  never  intermitted 
their  purpose  either  to  kill  or  to  get  rid  of 
him.  He  had,  from  the  first,  been  the  op- 
poser  of  their  wicked  deeds,  and  they  could 
recognize  that  he  had  the  ear  of  the  king. 
They  endeavored  to  arouse  the  king's  distrust 
and  anger  against  him  by  representing  his 
object  as  a  political  one.  After  much  dis- 
puting and  questioning  the  king  at  last  de- 
cided that  Mackay  should  leave  the  country 
on  condition  of  sending  another  missionary 
to  take  his  place.  This  spoiled  the  plans  of 
the  Arabs,  who  had  it  in  their  thought  to 
plunder  the  station  after  Mackay  had  gone. 
The  last  plan  of  Mackay's  arch-enemy  was 
to  get  himself  appointed  as  a  messenger  to 
take  him  across  the  lake,  which  plan,    how- 

101 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

ever,  Mackay  was  able  to  avert.  On  July 
2  1,  1887,  Mackay  locked  up  the  mission 
premises,  "  left  the  keys  with  the  French 
priests,  and  worn  with,  worry,  work,  and 
farewells,  started  for  the  port,  where  he 
had  to  patch  and  repair  the  Elemior  before 
starting  on  his  voyage  to  the  south  end  of 
the  lake,"  where  he  arrived  on  August  i. 

"■  We  do  not  want  to  see  Mackay's  boat 
again  in  these  waters,"  were  the  words  of 
the  Mohammedans  as  they  drove  out  the 
missionaries  in  October,  1888,  and  never 
again  was  it  to  touch  the  shores  of  Uganda. 
The  vessel  had  done  its  work  and  was  worn 
out.  ''  The  man  who  had  put  her  together 
and  completed  another  boat  to  replace  her," 
says  Miss  vStork  in  the  Story  of  Uganda, 
*  *  the  man  whom  all  Uganda  knew  and  re- 
spected, whom  heathen  and  Mohammedan 
feared,  the  man  whom  they  looked  upon  as 
inseparably  connected  with  the  cause  of 
Christ  in  these  regions,  was  never  again  to 
revisit  the  land  for  which  he  had  toiled  and 
prayed ;  but  the  cause  of  Christ,  his  Master 
and  King,  triumphed  over  all  foes  and  all 
obstacles,  and  before  he  closed  his  eyes  on 
earth  he    saw  this,  the   greatest  and  most 

tyrannical  power  in  all  East  Africa,  in  the 
102 


Alexander  M.   Mackay 

hands  of  men  who  rejoiced   in  the  name  of 
Christian.' 

REVOLUTION    IN    UGANDA 

Leaving  Mackay  for  the  present,  we  wall 
continue  our  glance  at  the  immediately  suc- 
ceeding history  of  events  in  Uganda. 
Mwanga's  cruelties  had  disgusted  the  people. 
He  had  a  large  bodyguard,  consisting  of 
Mohammedans  and  Christians,  and  it  was 
ascertained  that  he  had  a  plot  to  destroy 
them  all :  the  Mohammedans  because  they 
would  not  eat  the  king's  meat,  and  the 
Christians  because  they  would  not  work  on 
Sunday.  His  plan  was  to  have  them  carried 
to  a  small  island  in  the  lake  and  leave  them 
there  to  starve.  Most  of  the  young  chiefs 
of  the  country  had  forsaken  the  worship  of 
the  Inbari  (spirits),  and  were  alarmed  at 
Mwanga's  cruelties,  as  were  the  people  at 
large.  In  September  this  bodyguard,  be- 
coming aware  of  Mwanga's  scheme  for  their 
destruction,  quietly  rose  up  against  him  and 
in  a  single  day  effected  the  most  peaceful 
and  satisfactory  of  revolutions. 

They  immediately  reorganized  the  gov- 
ernment with  Kiwewa,  an  older  son  of 
Mtesa,  as  king,  and  making  a  Roman  Catholic 

103 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

Christian  chief  judge,  a  Protestant  Chris- 
tian the  next  high  officer,  put  Christians 
and  Moslems  in  all  other  important  posts. 
Religious  liberty  was  proclaimed,  and  the 
real  feelings  of  the  people  of  Uganda 
toward  the  missionaries  were  manifested 
by  a  rush,  to  them  for  instruction.  The 
Mohammedans,  however,  soon  fell  out  with 
the  Christians,  and  after  a  brief  struggle 
overcame  them,  killing  the  Christian  ad- 
miral and  some  others,  placing  Moslems  in 
all  offices,  and  summoning  the  missionaries 
before  them. 

Mackay  had  been  allowed  to  leave  Uganda 
on  condition  of  sending  some  other  mission- 
ary in  his  place,  probably  with  the  purpose 
of  holding  him  as  a  hostage  in  case  the  Eng- 
lish attempted  to  visit  with  vengeance  the 
murder  of  Bishop  Hannington.  Mr.  Gordon 
and  Mr.  Walker  were  sent  to  the  Mission,  but 
on  arriving  at  court  were  seized  and  impris- 
oned in  a  miserable  hut  for  seven  days,  the 
Mission  property  being  destroyed  at  the  time 
when  they  were  summoned  to  court.  The 
upshot  of  the  whole  matter  was  that  the  mis- 
sionaries were  driven  out  of  Uganda  and 
most  of  the  native  Christians  fled  the  coun- 
try, finding  shelter  imder  the  protection  of  a 

104 


Alexander  M.   Mackay 

native  prince  in  the  adjoining  country  im- 
mediately west  of  Uganda.  How  many  of 
them  thus  found  refuge  it  is  impossible  to 
say,  but  Mr.  Stanley,  in  a  letter  written  to 
the  Church  Missionary  Society  presently 
afterward  from  Ankoli,  which  was  supposed 
to  be  tributary  to  Uganda,  but  at  the  fall  of 
Mwanga  became  semi-independent,  makes 
the  statement  on  their  own  authority  that 
they  numbered  between  two  and  three  thou- 
sand. Mr.  Stanley  gives  in  this  letter  an 
account  of  an  interview  with  Samuel  and 
Zachariah,  of  the  Protestant  Mission  of 
Uganda,  who  told  him  the  wonderful  story 
of  the  deposition  of  Mwanga  and  the  growth 
of  the  Christian  Mission.  Mr.  Stanley  says : 
''  I  would  have  liked  nothing  better  than  to 
have  had  one  of  these  two  men  in  London 
to  have  told  it  in  their  own  Swahili,  and  to 
have  got  some  interpreter  to  interpret  sen- 
tence after  sentence.  It  was  most  graphic, 
most  beautiful."  He  says:  "  Now  I  notice 
that  as  soon  as  they  left  my  presence  they 
went  to  their  own  little  huts  and  took  out 
little  books  that  they  had  in  their  pockets 
in  their  clothes,  and  one  day  I  called  Samuel 
to  me  and  asked  him,  '  What  book  is  that 
you  have?    I    did  not  know   Uganda  read 

105 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

books;'  and  that  was  the  first  time  I  knew 
they  had  the  gospel  in  Luganda.  Then  I 
took  greater  interest,  for  I  found  that  al- 
most every  one  of  the  party  had  a  small 
pamphlet  in  Ltiganda — prayers  and  the  gos- 
pel of  Matthew,  and,  I  think,  of  Luke.  I 
remember  very  well  seeing  the  word  Ma- 
thaio,  or  Matthew,  on  the  top  of  the  book  on 
its  title-page.  I  noticed  that  after  the  con- 
ference where  the  princes  and  leaders  of 
Ankoli  ceded  their  country  they  retired  to 
their  huts  and  threw  themselves  upon  the 
ground,  and  took  out  the  books  and  began 
to  read  them ;  and  they  gathered  together 
and  began  to  talk.  And  the  question  was 
asked  me  by  one  of  them,  with  a  sort  of  dep- 
recating smile,  '  Are  all  white  men  Chris- 
tians?' That  was  more  than  I  could  ven- 
ture to  say,  though  I  hoped,  of  course, 
they  were.  Then  he  put  a  point-blank 
question  to  me  and  said,  '  Are  you  a  Chris- 
tian ?  '  Then  I  asked  him,  '  Do  you  consider 
yourself  2i  Christian?  '  'Of  course  I  do,'  he 
replied.  '  How  long  have  you  been  a  Chris- 
tian? '  '  Well,'  he  said,  '  I  am  one  of  Mac- 
kay's  pupils,  and  learned  from  him  ;  and  this 
book  was  given  to  me  and  to  every  one 
of   us.     There  are  about  twenty-five  hun- 

106 


Alexander  M.   Mackay 

dred    of    us,    all   belonging    to    Mackay's 
Mission.'  " 

MACKAY  AT  THE  SOUTH  END  OF  THE  LAKE. 

It  is  not  possible  for  us  to  follo^v  the  his- 
tory of  the  Mission  in  Uganda  in  further  de- 
tail, as  our  object  is  to  follow  Mackay,  who 
had  removed  to  the  south  end  of  the  lake 
and  was  occupied  in  the  mission  at  Usam- 
biro,  in  the  territory  of  a  friendly  chief. 
Bishop  Parker  arrived  there  just  out  from 
England  soon  after,  and  a  missionary  con- 
ference, composed  of  six  brethren,  was  held 
for  days  at  the  station.  One  of  the  mis- 
sionaries, and  also  the  bishop,  were  within 
a  fortnight  suddenly  smitten  with  fever  and 
died.  The  others  removed  to  other  mission 
stations,  except  Mr.  Ashe,  who  remained  a 
little  while  longer,  and  was  obliged  on  ac- 
count of  ill  health  to  return  to  England, 
leaving  Mackay  once  more  alone.  Mackay 
carried  on  his  retranslation  of  St.  John's 
gospel,  and  also  occupied  himself  with  gath- 
ering  the  material  in  the  forest  for  building 
another  steam  launch.  In  a  letter  of  April 
23,  1888,  he  says:  "Twice  within  a  fort- 
night Ashe  and  I  have  performed  the  sacred 

duty  of  commending  our  dying  brethren  to 
107 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

the  Saviour  whom  they  served,  and  closing- 
their  eyes.  On  both  occasions  I  read  the 
funeral  service  at  the  grave,  in  Swahili,  a 
score  of  African  Christians  from  Freretown 
standing  around.  It  has  indeed  been  a 
heavy  time  of  sorrow  to  us  all,  but  more  so 
to  the  distant  friends  will  the  news  bring 
sudden  grief.  The  conquest  of  Africa  has 
already  cost  many  lives,  but  every  one  gone 
is  a  step  nearer  victory.  The  end  to  be 
gained  is,  however,  worth  the  price  paid. 
The  redemption  of  the  world  cost  infinitely 
more."  On  August  8,  1888,  he  wrote:  *'  I 
have  my  hands  full  preparing  to  build  our 
new  boat.  I  have  to  cut  the  timber  some 
twenty  miles  distant  and  have  it  carried 
here.  You  will  probably  be  disgusted  at 
hearing  that  I  am  busy  just  now  in  making 
bricks  to  make  a  house  in  which  to  construct 
the  vessel.  Within  the  last  fortnight  we 
have  made  some  ten  thousand.  That  is 
doubtless  poor  work  to  be  occupied  with  in 
a  mission  field,  but  it  must  be  done,  and 
in  even  such  humble  occupation  I  hope  the 
good  Lord  will  not  withhold  his  blessing. 
Mission  boats,  unfortunately,  do  not  grotv 
of  themselves;  they  have  to  be  built,  every 
inch  of  them,  but  trees  have  been  growing 

108 


Alexander  M.  Mackay 

for  ages,  of  the  Lord's  planting,  and  as  we 
fell  them  I  like  to  think  that  he  ordained 
them  for  this  purpose." 

Within  less  than  a  month  he  found  him- 
self with  smallpox  raging  everywhere,  and 
the  duty  fell  to  him  of  vaccinating  hosts  of 
people,  old  and  young.  Smallpox  in  some 
Eastern  countries,  as  in  India,  is  not  so 
generally  fatal  as  in  other  countries ;  but  in 
Africa  it  is  a  dreadful  scourge.  Before  the 
year  closed  a  number  of  the  Christian  peo- 
ple of  Uganda,  who  had  succeeded  in  es- 
caping from  the  country,  found  their  way 
to  Mackay  at  Usambiro  and  were  hoeing 
ground  and  planting  seeds.  Mackay  was 
meanwhile  engaged  in  translating  and  push- 
ing the  building  of  his  steam  launch  for  facili- 
tating communication  on  the  lake,  on  the 
shores  of  which  they  hoped  to  have  several 

stations. 

mackay's  death 

On  January  2,  1890,  Mackay  wrote  his 
last  message  to  English  ChrivStians,  in  which 
he  appealed  for  reinforcements.  He  wrote 
as  follows :  ' '  Mwanga  says,  '  I  want  a  host 
of  English  teachers  to  come  and  teach  the 
Gospel  to  my  people.'  I  write,  imploring 
you  to  strengthen   our  Mission,  not  by  two 

8  "  109 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

or  three,  but  by  twenty.  Is  this  golden 
opportunity  to  be  neglected,  or  is  it  to  be 
lost  forever?  " 

mackay's  ascension 

It  was  about  a  month  after  this  that 
Mackay  himself  received  a  call  to  ' '  come 
up  higher."  His  only  fellow-laborer,  Mr. 
Deekes,  was  suffering  from  ill  health  and 
about  to  return  home,  but  on  the  morning 
Mr.  Deekes  was  to  start  Mackay  was  taken 
ill  with  fever,  was  four  days  delirious,  and 
Februarys,  1890,  at  11  P.  M.,  he  died,  a 
few  months  more  than  forty  years  old. 

A  coffin  was  made  for  him  out  of  the 
wood  he  had  gathered  for  the  boat,  and  the 
village  boys  and  the  Christians  from 
Uganda  sang  in  the  Luganda  language  at 
his  grave  on  the  following  Sunday  after- 
noon, *'  All  hail  the  power  of  Jesus'  name." 

Colonel  Grant,  who,  with  Speke,  discov- 
ered this  lake,  wrote:  "I  had  the  utmost 
confidence  in  him  and  looked  forward  to 
the  time  when  he  would  sail  around  the 
lake  in  his  own  steamer,  and  when  we  should 
have  him  among  us  to  tell  all  he  knew  of 
that    deeply    interesting    country    which    I 

almost  love — Ufifanda.     The  blow  to  civili- 
no 


Alexander  M.   Mackay 

zatioii  in  Central  Africa  which  has  fallen  on 
us  is  not  easily  repaired,  for  a  score  of  lis 
would  never  make  a  Mackay."  A  great 
burst  of  lament  and  of  admiration  swept 
over  the  Christian  world  as  it  learned  of  the 
death  of  Mackay.  The  Church  of  England 
missionary  authorities  confessed  frankly 
that,  as  much  as  they  had  admired  him,  they 
had  not  at  all  realized  the  position  he  had 
gained  in  the  public  mind,  and  declared 
that  they  were  not  in  the  least  prepared 
for  the  burst  of  admiration  elicited  by  the 
tidings  of  his  death.  The  London  Times 
correspondent  at  Zanzibar  wrote  of  the  "ir- 
reparable loss  to  the  cause  of  African  civi- 
lization" involved  in  his  death.  The  Pall 
Mall  Gazette  called  him  "  The  St.  Paul  of 
Uganda."  The  Leeds  Mercury,  Manchester 
Examiner,  and  other  great  provincial  daily 
papers  gave  much  space  to  the  considera- 
tion of  Mackay  and  his  work.  One  of  his 
missionary  associates,  Mr.  Ashe,  declared 
that  **  the  missionary  work  done  in  Uganda 
could  never  have  been  accomplished  if  it 
had  not  been  for  his  determination  to  hold 
on  at  all  costs.  He  had  learned  the  secret 
of  being    steadfast    and    immovable.      He 

had  his  temper  wonderfully  under  control. 
Ill 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

Sometimes  the  Highland  fire  would  flash 
out,  but  never  betrayed  him  into  unworthy 
deeds.  I  remember  him  especially  during 
our  days  of  cruelest  trial  in  Uganda,  how 
on  that  first  miserable  day  of  persecution, 
when  the  bloody  Mujasi  seized  us  and  our 
followers,  Mackay,  though  only  just  recov- 
ering from  fever,  was  perfectly  cool  and 
collected,  and  seemed  not  to  feel  the  fatigue 
of  the  long  and  harassing  march  back  ;  how 
clearly  he  stated  our  case  to  the  unjust 
judge ;  how  wise  he  was  in  counsel,  how 
prudent  in  his  dealings  with  the  fickle 
Mwanga;  and  I  believe,  had  it  not  been 
for  Mackay's  influence  with  the  old  chiefs, 
the  Mission  would  hardly  have  weathered 
the  three  distinct  storms  of  persecution 
Vv'hich  burst  over  it  in  Mwanga's  first  years 
as  king." 

Mackay's  career  exhibited  such  versatility 
of  talent  as  rarely  centers  in  one  man.  He 
could  grapple  with  Mohammedans  in  sharp 
theological  controversv,  or  sit  for  hours 
teaching  boys  to  read,  or  patiently  translate 
the  vScriptures  into  a  language  that  had 
neither  grammar  nor  dictionary,  and  was 
thus  a  many-sided  and  intense  missionary; 
while  the  great  variety  of  his  industrial  and 

112 


Alexander  M.   Mackay 

civilizing  agencies  made  him,  all  in  all,  the 
noblest  lay  missionary  the  Church  and  the 
world  has  seen,  and  the  loftiest  exemplar  of 
which  there  is  any  record  of  what  lay  mis- 
sionaries and  industrial  missions  mean. 

It  is  not  for  many  to  be  so  possessed  with 
"diversities  of  gifts,"  but  it  is  with  all  of 
us  to  present  whatever  gifts  we  have  upon 
the  same  altar  on  which  ^lackay  consecrated 
his. 

"  We  plow  it,  and  we  dig  it,  and  we  sow  the 

fill  rowed  land, 
But  the  growing  and  the  reaping  are  in   the 

Lord's  own  hands." 


ORA    ET    LA  BORA. 
113 


^be 


m 

Ibon.  Hon  Ikeitb^J'alconer, 
pioneer  in  arabia 

Arthur  T.  Pif.rson 

Ill 

The  Hon*  Ion  Keith-Falconer,  Pioneer  in  Arabia 

History  is  "  philosophy  teaching  by  ex- 
amples;" precept  reduced  to  practice;  the 
Book  of  Life  presented  in  an  illustrated, 
sometimes  an  illuminated,  edition. 

The  heroic  young  man  whose  brief  biog- 
raphy is  now  to  be  recorded  represented 
the  very  flower  of  British  civilization ;  and 
the  lesson  of  his  short  but  beautiful  career 
may  be  comprehended  in  one  sentence  :  The 
best  is  not  too  good  for  God's  work,  and 
the  length  of  life  is  not  the  measure  of  its 
service. 

Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  quaintly  but  pro- 
foundly said  that  the  training  of  the  child 
begins  a  hundred  years  before  its  birth.  In 
other  words,  character  has  its  law  of  hered- 
ity; it  transmits,  at  least,  its  aptitudes. 
There  is  something  in  blood,  in  breeding, 
literally  construed;  and  young  Keith-Fal- 
coner might  well  be  proud  of  his  lineage, 
for  in  more  senses  than  one  it  was  noble. 
He  could  trace  the  stream  of  his  family  life 
117 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

back  through  eight  centuries.  In  the  year 
loio,  when  Malcolm  II  was  King  of  Scot- 
land, Robert  Keith,  his  remote  ancestor,  by 
his  valor  and  prowess  in  the  battle  with  the 
Danish  invaders,  won  the  title  of  Heredi- 
tary Great  Mareschal  of  Scotland;  andv/hat 
Robert  Keith  did  in  battle  for  the  Scottish. 
crown  his  descendant,  long  after,  did  for 
the  crown  and  covenant  of  the  King  of  kings 
— he  became  a  standard-bearer  on  the  battle- 
field where  the  Moslem  and  the  Christian 
powers  meet,  to  contend  for  the  victory  of 
the  ages ;  and  lie  won  a  higher  honor  and 
title  than  can  be  conferred  by  human  sover- 
eigns as  one  of  the  Knights  of  the  Cross. 

It  is  now  a  little  over  forty  years  since 
Ion  Keith-Falconer  was  born  in  Edinburgh, 
Scotland;  and  just  then  began  an  eventful 
era  in  missions,  when  more  new  doors  were 
suddenly  thrown  open  for  missionary  labor 
than  in  any  previous  decade  of  years  since 
Christ's  last  command  was  given  to  his 
Church.  Born  in  1856,  he  died  in  1887 — 
his  brief  life-story  on  earth  covering  only 
about  thirty  years.  Yet,  if  *  *  that  life  is  long 
which  answers  life's  great  end,"  Vv'-e  must 
cotmt  these  thirty  years  as  spanning  eter- 
nity, for  they  wrought  out  God's  eternal 
n  s 


The  Hon.  Ion  Keith-Falconer 

purpose,  and  left  a  lasting  legacy  of  blessing 
to  the  young  men  of  all  generations,  the  true 
wealth  and  worth  of  which  only  eternity  can 
compute. 

This  biography  may  perhaps  best  be  stud- 
ied from  four  points  of  view:  his  boyhood, 
his  college  life,  his  home  work,  and  his  pio- 
neer enterprise  on  the  shores  of  the  Red  Sea. 

The  first  period  we  may  rapidly  sketch,  as 
the  materials  are  not'  abundant.  He  was 
marked,  as  a  boy,  by  four  conspicuous  qual- 
ities: a  certain  manliness,  magnanimity, 
piety,  and  unselfishness — rare  traits  indeed 
in  a  lad.  He  loved  outdoor  sports  and  ex- 
celled in  athletics.  Six  feet  and  three  inches 
in  height,  and  well  formed,  his  physical 
presence,  w^hen  he  attained  full  stature,  was 
like  that  of  Saul,  the  first  king  of  Israel, 
and  made  him  conspicuous  among  his  fel- 
lows. No  wonder  that  he  was  a  favorite 
with  the  modern  advocates  of  mUvScular 
Christianity,  since  at  twenty  he  was  Presi- 
dent of  the  London  Bicycle  Club  and  at 
twenty-two  the  champion  racer  of  Britain, 
distancing  in  a  five-mile  race,  in  1878, 
even  John  Keen  himself.  Four  years  later 
he  was  the  first  to  go  on  his  wheel  from 
Land's  End  to  John  O'Groat's  House — very 

119 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

nearly  one  thousand  miles ;  and  he  trium- 
phantly accomplished  that  feat  in  thirteen 
days — an  average  of  nearly  eighty  miles  a 
day. 

If  his  stalwart  manhood  won  applause, 
much  more  his  sterling  worth  as  a  man  of 
inward  strength  and  symmetry.  Let  us  not 
forget  that  this  champion  in  the  race  for 
muscular  superiority  was  too  strong  and 
brave  in  soul  to  be  'overcome  of  his  own 
lusts,  or  enticed.  He  loved  truth  in  the  in- 
ward parts,  and  had  no  patience  with  shams 
or  frauds ;  and  he  recalls  to  our  thought  the 
famous  statue  which  represents  Veracity, 
standing  with  open  face,  the  mask  of  dissim- 
ulation lying  at  his  feet,  cleft  with  the  sword 
of  Sincerity.  He  was  not  ashamed  to  make 
the  Bible  the  one  book  he  loved  and  stud- 
ied ;  and  from  the  earliest  dawn  of  his  in- 
telligence he  was  a  faithful  and  loyal  student 
of  God's  Holy  Word,  and  sought  by  obedi- 
ence to  get  ever-increasing  knowledge  of  its 
true  spirit  and  meaning. 

Better  than  all,  yet  by  no  means  inde- 
pendent of  the  rest,  were  his  unselfish  piety 
and  charity.  To  impart  is  the  highest 
blessedness,  though  most  of  us  do  not  learn 
the  bliss  of  giving,  if  at  all,  until  late  in  life. 

120 


The  Hon.  Ion   Keith-Falconer 

A  true  benevolence  is  the  ripest  fruit,  and 
grows  on  the  topmost  branch  of  holy  living. 
Yet  this  lad  early  showed  a  deep  sympathy 
with  sorrow  and  suffering,  and  his  boyhood's 
days  are  even  yet  remembered  for  his  sim- 
ple ministries  to  those  who  needed  help. 
His  old  nurse  has  told  how  he  went  about, 
a  boy  of  seven,  reading  and,  in  his  way,  ex- 
plaining the  Bible  in  the  cottages  of  poor 
peasants ;  and  how,  having  on  one  occasion 
spent  his  pocket  money  for  some  baker's 
choicest  cakes,  he  bestowed  them  all,  un- 
tasted,  upon  a  hungry  boy.  What  a  proph- 
ecy all  this  of  the  man  who  was  to  give  his 
short  life  to  teaching  the  ignorant,  and  him- 
self to  become  one  of  God's  barley  loaves  to 
feed  dying  souls ! 

We  come  now  to  glance  rapidly  at  his 
college  life.  Keith -Falconer  was  an  ex- 
ample of  concentrated  pov/ers  of  mind  as 
well  as  of  body,  of  a  fine  quality  of  brains 
as  well  as  brawn.  He  mastered  '^  short- 
hand," for  instance,  and  rivaled  Pitman 
himself.  Those  who  want  to  see  how  a 
young  man  may  distinguish  himself  in  this 
difficult  art  would  do  well  to  read  his  article, 
'  'Shorthand,"  in  the  Encyclopcedia  Britannicay 
which  is  a  model  of  careful   and  compre- 

121 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

hensive  statement  as  to  the  science  and  art 
of  phonography.  Although  he  might  not, 
perhaps,  have  been  accounted  a  genius,  he 
had  the  genius  of  industry,  and,  by  **  plod- 
ding," like  William  Carey,  achieved  distinc- 
tion. He  was  conscientious  in  his  curricu- 
lum, and  applied  himself  to  hard  tasks,  and 
patiently  and  persistently  overcame  ob- 
stacles, until  he  rose  to  an  enviable  rank 
and  won  honors  and  prizes  which  the  indo- 
lent and  indifferent  never  secure.  We  shall 
see,  later  on,  how  he  was  appointed  to  the 
professorship  of  Arabic  at  Cambridge  Uni- 
versity— a  fitting  crown  to  his  academic 
career,  in  which  he  successfully  mastered 
not  only  the  regular  and  ordinary  tasks, 
but  theology,  Hebrew,  the  Semitic  lan- 
guages, and  kindred  studies,  and  learned 
the  Tonic  Sol-fa  system  of  music. 

The  missionary  spirit  burned  in  him, 
even  in  college  days  and  within  college 
walls,  though  the  atmosphere  of  a  univer- 
sity is  not  very  stimulating  to  aggressive 
and  evangelistic  piety.  The  lad  whOj  at 
Harrow  School,  not  yet  fourteen  years  old, 
was,  by  the  testimony  of  the  masters,  ''  en- 
ergetic, manly,  and  vigorous,"  although 
**  neither  a  prig  nor  a  Pharisee,"  was,  dur- 

122 


The  Hon.  Ion  Keith-Falconer 

ing  his  brilliant  career  at  Cambridge,  which 
began  in  1874,  not  only  fearless  in  the 
avowal  of  his  Christian  faith,  but  was  moved 
by  that  passion  for  souls  which  compels 
unselfish  utterance  and  effort  in  behalf  of 
others.  In  temperance  and  mission  work 
he  both  used  and  tested  his  powers  and 
adaptations  as  to  a  wider  field  of  service. 
He  became  the  leader  of  a  band  of  Chris- 
tian students  who,  in  the  old  theater  at 
Barnwell,  near  Cambridge,  carried  on  rag- 
ged school  work  and  similar  Gospel  evangel- 
ism. From  among  themselves  and  friends, 
he  and  his  fellow- workers  raised  about  eight 
thousand  dollars  to  purchase  the  building, 
and  there  a  wide-reaching  service  began, 
whose  harvest  is  not  yet  wholly  gathered 
and  garnered.  In  this  sphere  Keith-Fal- 
coner earnestly  and  vigorously  wrought, 
and  when  he  spoke  uttered  the  clear  com- 
mon sense  which  is  better  than  ambitious 
oratory. 

Afield  in  London  next  drew  him.  When 
yet  but  a  lad  of  fifteen  he  had  met  F.  N. 
Charrington,  then  a  young  man  of  twenty- 
one,  who,  while  going  afoot  through  Aber- 
deenshire, had  paid  a  visit  to  the  house  of 
his  father,  the  Earl  of  Kintore.     Between 

123 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

Keith-Falconer  and  Charrington,  notwith- 
standing six  years'  difference  in  their  ages, 
a  very  intimate  friendship  at  once  sprang 
up,  which  bore  that  most  blessed  fruit,  fel- 
lowship in  holy  work  for  God  and  man.  Mr. 
Charrington,  now  so  conspicuously  known 
as  the  founder  and  leader  of  the  Tower 
Hamlets  Mission  in  the  East  End  of  London, 
had,  two  years  before  meeting  young  Keith- 
Falconer,  consecrated  his  life,  at  the  cost  of 
surrendering  a  princely  fortune  as  a  brewer, 
to  uplifting  and  redeeming  the  East  End 
drunkards  and  outcasts.  When,  late  at 
night,  he  watched  the  wretched  wives  and 
mothers  anxiously  waiting  for  their  hus- 
bands outside  the  vile  drinkshops  over  which 
the  name  of  ''Charrington,  Head  &  Co." 
shone  in  gold  and  azure,  he  felt  a  mighty 
impulse  within  him  to  break  off  the  yoke  of 
the  drink  traffic;  and,  resigning  the  eldest 
son's  birthright  share  in  the  business,  he 
accepted  a  smaller  portion,  and  even  that  he 
laid  on  the  altar  of  humanity,  resolved  that 
the  money,  largely  coined  out  of  human 
woe,  should  be  dedicated  to  human  weal,  in 
raising  out  of  drunkenness  and  vice  the 
very  classes  that  the  beershop  had  dragged 
down.     Charrington   began  his  work  in   a 

124 


The  Hon.  Ion  Keith-Falconer 

hayloft ;  from  there  he  was  crowded  into  a 
larger  hall;  then  a  big  tent,  until,  in  1877, 
a  larger  AvSsembly  Hall  was  opened — now 
twenty  3-ears  ago — where  two  thousand  peo- 
ple were  gathered  night  after  night  for 
nine  years. 

Keith-Falconer's  name  is  inseparable  from 
the  grand  work  of  Charrington,  and  there- 
fore it  is  no  digression  to  give  that  noble 
enterprise  ample  mention.  The  two  young 
men,  moved  by  a  similar  impulse,  were  di- 
vinely knit  together,  as  were  David  and  Jon- 
athan. During  his  Cambridge  days  Keith- 
Falconer  often  went  to  London  to  visit  his 
friend,  watch  his  work,  and  give  it  help.  He 
also  took  his  share  of  the  opposition  and 
persecution  that  made  Charrington  its  tar- 
get. He  accepted,  with  him,  the  "  mob- 
bino:  "  which  rewarded  unselfish  service  to 
the  degraded  slaves  of  drink,  going  with 
him  to  the  police  office,  when  his  friend  was 
arrested  on  false  charges,  as  one  that  was 
turning  the  world  upside  down.  Like 
Charrington,  also,  he  had  his  reward.  He 
saw  drunkards  reformed,  gangs  of  thieves 
broken  up,  public  houses  dCvSerted  and  for 
sale  at  half  their  cost,  and  homes  redeemed 

from  tbe  curse  of  rum  and  crime. 
9  1^5 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

During  the  fearful  winter  of  1879  ^^^ 
feeding  of  hungry  multitudes  occupied  the 
attention  of  Charrington  and  his  helpers, 
and  led  ultimately  to  the  erection  of  that 
new  hall  which,  at  a  cost  of  $200,000,  stands 
with  its  buildings  as  a  perpetual  benediction 
to  the  neighborhood,  and  in  which  for  over 
ten  years  untold  blessing  has  been  imparted 
to  thousands  and  even  millions.  In  that 
larger  Assembly  Hall  the  writer  has  more 
than  once  spoken,  and  in  the  personal  ac- 
quaintance of  the  founder  and  father  of  the 
enterprise  he  rejoices.  From  personal  ob- 
servation, therefore,  he  can  testify  that  in 
that  grand  audience  room  on  Mile  End  Road 
five  thousand  people  gather  under  the  sound 
of  one  voice ;  there,  every  night,  a  Gospel 
service  is  held ;  the  days  of  mob  violence 
are  over,  and  Mr.  Charrington  finds  stalwart 
defenders  in  the  poor  victims  whose  yoke 
he  has  been  the  means  of  breaking,  and  the 
whole  East  End  is  gradually  being  redeemed 
from  its  social  anathema. 

In  all  this  work  Keith-Falconer  has  an 
eternal  vshare,  as  in  its  reward.  It  was  he 
who,  as  honorary  secretary,  issued  the  neces- 
sary appeals,  himself  becoming  a  beggar  for 
funds  and  a  donor  to  the  extent  of  $10,000. 

126 


The  Hon.  Ion  Keith-Falconer 

As  a  college  student  he  would  hurry  off  to 
the  metropolis  for  a  week  at  a  time,  lend  a 
hand  and  a  voice  as  needed,  visit  the  poor, 
teach  the  word,  aid  in  administrative  de- 
tails, and  then  hurry  back  to  Cambridge 
and  its  duties.  In  his  Memorials  of  Ion  Keith- 
Falconer  Mr.  Sinker  says : 

''  In  the  summer  of  that  year  (1886)  I  ac- 
companied Keith-Falconer  to  see  the  build- 
ing, and  we  were  taken  by  Mr.  Charrington 
to  the  central  point  of  the  upper  gallery  of 
the  great  hall,  to  gain  the  best  general  view 
of  the  room.  As  we  sat  there  I  could  not 
but  be  struck  with  the  similar  expression  on 
the  faces  of  the  two  men.  It  was  one  in 
which  joy  and  keen  resolve  and  humble 
thankfulness  were  strangely  blended.  One 
great  work  for  God  which  Keith- Falconer 
had  striven  hard  to  further  he  was  allowed 
to  see  in  its  full  completeness,  carried  on  by 
men  working  there  with  heartiest  and  pur- 
est zeal.  Not  while  any  of  the  present  gen- 
eration of  workers  survive  will  the  name 
of  Keith-Falconer  fade  out  of  loving  re- 
membrance in  the  great  building  in  Mile 
End  Road." 

All  this  work  he  did  as  a  humble  layman, 
who  did  not  often  speak  in  public,  but  who 

127 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

had  learned  the  secret  of  *' having'  a  talk 
with  a  man,"  and  one  man  at  a  time — as 
Jesus  did  with  Nicodemus  and  the  Samari- 
tan woman.  This  was  his  form  of  evangel- 
istic and  missionary  work,  getting  in  touch 
with  an  individual  .soul,  and  finding  the  se- 
cret key  that  unlocked  the  heart — a  personal, 
private  conversation  about  the  most  impor- 
tant matters.  Such  a  method  of  service  courts 
no  publicity  and  escapes  observation,  but 
does  not  fail  of  recognition  in  God's  book 
of  remembrance,  where  a  special  record  is 
kept  of  those  who  think  upon  His  name  and 
speak  often  one  to  another.'^'  For  example, 
while  on  a  bicycle  tour  with  a  friend  in 
vSutherlandshire,  in  1884,  he  wrote  to  his 
wife  :  ' '  We  had  a  job  to  get  across  the  Kyle. 
It  was  very  low  water,  and  we  had  to  wade 
some  distance  before  we  got  to  the  boat.  We 
had  a  talk  with  the  boatman,  who  said  he 
had  been  praying  and  searching  for  years, 
but  couldn't  find  Him."  This  modest,  un- 
pretending sentence,  written  to  her  he  loved 
best,  reveals  the  habit  of  the  man. 

The  fourth  and  last  period  of  his  life  is 
forever  linked  with  Arabia.  After  he 
passed   his  last  examination  at  Cambridge, 

*  Mai.  iii,  i6. 
128 


The  Hon.  Ion  Keith-Falconer 

ill  1880,  Keith-Falconer  gave  himself,  with 
all  his  concentration  of  mind,  to  the  study 
of  the  Arabic,  including  the  Koran.  First 
he  got  from  books  what  preparatory  knowl- 
edge of  that  difficult  tongue  he  could,  and 
then  went  to  the  Nile,  and  at  Assiout  resided 
for  some  months  with  that  well-known 
missionary,  Dr.  H.  W.  Hogg,  to  acquire 
the  colloquial  language,  learn  the  temper 
of  the  Arabic  mind,  and  study  the  Moslem 
faith.  Then  he  again  sought  the  univer- 
sity halls,  and  for  three  years  longer  carried 
on  his  research,  translating  the  KalilaJi  and 
DimnaJi,'^  and  meanwhile  filling  the  post 
of  Hebrew^  Lecturer  at  Clare  College  and  of 
Theological  Examiner. 

Here  then  is  a  young  man,  not  yet 
thirty,  married  to  a  charming  woman,  Miss 
Be  van,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  finest  clas- 
vsical  surroundings.  Everything  was  calcu- 
lated to  root  him  at  Cambridge,  where 
before  him  lay  a  future  of  almost  unlimited 
possibilities.       He    might    have    grown    in 

*  These  were  the  so-called  "  Fables  of  Bulpai  "  or  Pilpai, 
an  Indian  Brahman  and  gymnosophist,  of  great  anticpiily. 
Scarcely  any  book  but  the  Bible  has  been  translated  into 
so  many  tongues,  and  its  history  is  a  part  of  the  history  of 
human  development.  Bidpai  has  been  called  chief  of  the 
philosophers  of  India. 

129 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

such  a  soil  until,  like  the  palm,  he  over- 
topped others  and  blossomed  into  a  sur- 
passing fruitfulness,  as  well  as  a  scholarly 
symmetry.  Fame  had  her  goal  and  laurel 
wreath  in  sight.  But  a  higher  calling  and 
a  fadeless  crown  absorbed  him.  He  left  all 
behind  him  to  carry  the  Gospel  message  to 
distant  Aden. 

The  life  of  Dr.  John  Wilson,  of  Bombay, 
had  opened  his  eyes  to  the  possibilities  of 
a  missionary  career,  and  about  the  same 
time  General  Haig  had  called  attention  to 
Arabia  as  a  neglected  field,  and  to  the 
strategic  importance  of  this  particular  sta- 
tion on  the  Red  Sea  as  a  point  of  approach 
and  occupation.  Aden  as  a  military  posi- 
tion controls  the  Red  Sea,  and  in  a  mercan- 
tile and  nautical  point  of  view  sustains  a 
relation  to  Asia  and  Africa  similar  to  that 
of  Gibraltar  to  Europe  and  Africa.  In  the 
year  of  Victoria's  coronation — 1838 — the 
Arab  sultan  was  persuaded  to  cede  the 
peninsula  to  England,  and  it  was  made  a 
free  port.  It  is  but  five  hundred  miles 
south  from  Mecca  and  six  hundred  and 
fifty  from  Medina.  Thousands  from  all 
parts  of  Arabia  enter  the  British  territory 
every  year  and  are   compelled  to  see  how 

ISO 


The  Hon.  Ion  Keith-Falconer 

the  peace,  order,  freedom,  and  good  gov- 
ernment, there  prevalent,  contrast  with  the 
tyranny  and  anarchy  elsewhere  found. 

Keith-Falconer  had  an  interview  with 
General  Haig,  and  in  1885,  in  the  autumn, 
went  to  Aden  to  prospect.  On  his  way  he 
began  inducting  his  wife  into  the  mysteries 
of  Arabic,  and  quaintly  wrote :  ' '  Gwen- 
dolin  struggling  with  Arabic.  Arabic 
grammars  should  be  strongly  bound,  be- 
cause learners  are  so  often  found  to  dash 
them  frantically  on  the  ground." 

The  result  of  his  prospecting  tour  was 
that  he  determined  to  fix  on  Sheikh-Othman, 
near  by,  as  his  station,  leaving  Aden  to  the 
Church  Missionary  Society.  He  explored 
the  neighborhood,  and  personally  proved 
to  the  people  that  not  all  Europeans  are 
*'  clever  people  who  get  drunk  and  have  no 
religion  to  speak  of."  He  found  camel- 
riding  not  very  pleasant,  and  saw  one  of 
those  brutes  seize  and  shake  a  man  vio- 
lently;  and  he  adds,  *'a  camel  will  some- 
times bite  off  a  man's  head!" 

In  the  spring  of  1886  he  and  his  wife 
were  again  in  England,  and  on  Easter  Day, 
in  the  Assembly  Hall  at  Mile  End,  Keith- 
Falconer  delivered,  on  "Temptation,"  the 

131 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

most  striking  address  of  his  life.  Was  it  a 
reflection  of  the  inward  struggle  he  was 
then  experiencing,  with  the  parting  of  the 
ways  before  him?  with  nobility,  wealth, 
distinction,  on  the  one  hand,  and  seclusion, 
self-denial,  and  obscurity,  on  the  other?  In 
May  he  spoke  before  the  General  Assembly 
of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  on  Moham- 
medan missions,  an  address  equally  impress- 
ive in  its  way,  which  reveals  his  purpose  and 
clear  conception  of  the  possible  service  to 
which  Arabia  appealed.  He  said  that  he 
had  been  again  and  again  urged  to  go  to 
Arabia  and  set  up  a  school,  and  that  one 
day  a  Mohammedan,  asking  for  a  piece  of 
paper,  wrote  in  a  mysterious  fashion,  '*If 
you  want  the  people  to  walk  in  your  way, 
then  set  up  schools.''  The  man  was  a  Had- 
jee,  returning  from  a  pilgrimage  to  Mecca, 
where  he  had  been  thoroughly  stripped  of 
all  his  money.  Keith-Falconer  offered  him 
a  copy  of  John's  gospel,  but  he  would  not 
accept  it ;  and,  being  farther  questioned, 
acknowledged  that  he  liked  the  historical 
parts,  but  other  parts  made  him  fearful. 
He  pointed  to  the  talk  between  Christ  and 
the  woman  at  Jacob's  well,  "  If  thou  knew- 
est  the  gift  of  God,"  etc.,  ''  and,"  said  the 

132 


The  Hon.  Ion  Keith-Falconer 

Hadjee,  ''  that  verse  makes  my  heart  trem- 
ble, lest  I  be  made  to  follow  in  the  way  of 
the  Messiah." 

This  young  Semitic  scholar,  already  the 
greatest  living  orientalist,  saw  the  way  to  a 
great  work  at  this  southern  station  in 
Arabia.  He  would  have  a  school,  a  med- 
ical mission,  and  a  depot  for  distributing 
the  Holy  vScriptures.  He  must  study  medi- 
cine himself  and  secure  a  Christian  physi- 
cian as  his  coworker.  He  would  put  him- 
self under  the  Foreign  Mission  Board  of  the 
Scottish  Church,  but  he  would  pay  all  costs 
of  the  misvsion  himself. 

Just  at  this  point,  and  greatly  to  his  sur- 
prise, he  was  made  Professor  of  Arabic  at 
Cambridge.  The  position  v/as  partly  hon- 
orary, its  active  teaching  depending  mostly 
on  an  associate;  and  so  it  was  accepted, 
undoubtedly  not  because  of  a  divided  pur- 
pose, but  because  his  mind  was  set  on 
Arabia,  and  his  Cambridge  work  would 
augment  his  power  to  turn  attention  to  its 
needs.  He  gave  a  course  of  three  lectures 
on  ''The  Pilgrimage  to  Mecca,"  and  on  the 
evening  after  his  last  lecture  was  again  off 
for  Aden  with  his  wife  and  his  accom- 
plished colleague.  Dr.  Stewart  Co  wen. 

133 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

This  was  November,  1886.  He  laid  the 
foundation  for  his  mission  premises  and 
work,  and  the  force  of  his  character  was 
already  making  an  impression  on  the  Mos- 
lem mind,  so  that,  within  a  few  months, 
there  were  but  few  who  came  in  touch  with 
this  Cliristlike  man  who  were  willing  to  ad- 
mit that  they  were  followers  of  Mohammed  ; 
but  they  were  w^ont  to  say,  ''  There  are  no 
Moslems  here!"  The  Gospel  in  Arabic 
found  both  purchasers  and  readers  with 
those  who  had  read  in  this  grand  man  the 
living  epistle  of  God. 

But  the  Aden  fever  proved  a  fatal  foe. 
Both  Keith-Falconer  and  his  wife  were 
stricken  in  February,  1887,  and  fresli  at- 
tacks rapidly  weakened  his  stahvart  consti- 
tution until,  on  May  1 1 ,  he  sank  into  quiet 
slumber  and  could  no  more  be  awaked 
for  service  in  this  lov/er  sphere.  His  biog- 
rapher, Mr.  Sinker,  beautifully  writes :  ''It 
was  indeed  the  end.  Quietly  he  passed 
away.  God's  finger  touched  him  and  he 
slept.  Slept?  nay,  rather  awakened,  not  in 
the  close,  heated  room  where  he  had  so  long 
lain  helpless — the  weary  nurse,  overcome 
with  heat  and  watching,  slumbering  near — 
the  young  wife,  widowed  ere  she  knew  her 

134 


The  Hon.  Ion  Keith-Falconer 

loss,  lying  in  an  adjoining  room,  herself 
broken  down  with  illness  as  well  as  anxiety 
—the  loyal  doctor,  resting  after  his  two 
nights'  vigil — not  on  these  do  Ion  Keith- 
Falconer's  eyes  open.  He  is  in  the  pres- 
ence of  his  Lord;  the  life  which  is  the  life 
indeed  has  begun." 

After  five  months  of  labor  in  his  chosen 
field  the  body  of  Keith-Falconer  was  lov- 
ingly laid  to  rest  in  the  cemetery  at  Aden 
by  British  officers  and  soldiers  of  her  maj- 
esty  fitting  burial  for  one  of  the  soldiers  of 

a  greater  King,  who,  with  his  armor  on  and 
his  courage  undaunted,  fell  with  his  face 
to  the  foe.  The  martyr  of  Aden  had  en- 
tered God's  Eden. 

And  so  Great  Britain  made  her  first  offer- 
ing-  and    it    was    a    very    costly    one — to 

Arabia's  evangelization. 

No  doubt  there  be  those  who  will  exclaim, 
"  To  what  purpose  is  this  waste!  "  for  this 
flask  of  costly  ointment,  broken  and  poured 
out  amid  Arabia's  arid  sands,  might  have 
been  kept  in  the  classic  halls  of  Cambridge, 
and  even  yet  be  breathing  its  perfume  where 
scholars  tread  and  heroes  are  made.  To 
this  and  all  such  cavils  of  unbelief  there  is 
but  one  answer,  and  it  is  all-sufficient,  for 

135 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

it  is  God's  answer :  ' '  What  I  do  thou  know- 
est  not  now,  but  thou  shalt  know  hereafter." 

The  Free  Church,  whose  missionary  he 
was,  declares  :  '  *  The  falling  asleep,  in  the 
first  months  of  fervent  service,  of  the  Hon. 
Ion  Keith-P^alconer,  in  the  extreme  Asian 
outpost  in  South  Arabia,  gives  solemn  ur- 
gency to  his  last  appeal  to  the  cultured,  the 
wealthy,  and  the  unselfish,  whom  that  de- 
voted volunteer  for  Christ  represented  when 
he  addressed  them  in  these  v/ords: 

' '  '  While  vast  continents  are  shrouded  in 
almost  utter  darkness,  and  hundreds  of 
millions  suffer  the  horrors  of  heathenism  or 
Islam,  the  burden  of  proof  lies  upon  you  to 
show  that  the  circumstances  in  which  God 
has  placed  you  were  meant  by  Him  to  keep 
you  out  of  the  foreign  mission  field.' " 

God  makes  no  mistakes,  and  we  are  ''  im- 
mortal till  our  work  is  done,"  if  we  are  fully 
in  His  plan.  We  may  not  penetrate  the  ar- 
cana of  His  secret  purposes  and  read  the 
final  issue  of  our  disappointments,  but,  as 
Dr.  J.  W.  Dulles  used  to  say,  they  are, 
rightly  read,  "His  appointments."  The 
short  career  of  Keith-Falconer  is  a  lesson 
such  as  never  has  been  more  impressively 
taught — that  nothing  is  too  good  to  be  given 

136 


The  Hon.  Ion  Keith-Falconer 

to  God  on  the  altar  of  missions.  Keith- 
Falconer's  death  sent  an  electric  shock 
through  the  British  kingdom  and  the  wider 
Church  of  Christ.  But  it  was  his  distinction 
and  accomplish inents  that  made  it  impossi- 
ble for  his  life's  lesson  to  remain  unread. 
His  fame  gave  a  trumpet  voice  to  his  words 
and  made  his  life  vocal  with  witness.  Ad- 
miration and  love  united  to  draw  others  to 
follow  in  the  steps  of  a  heroism  so  divinely 
self -oblivious.  The  Church  asked  for  one 
volunteer  to  step  into  the  breach,  and  thir- 
teen of  the  graduating  class  of  the  New 
College  at  once  responded  ;  but  the  response 
did  not  end  then  or  there.  The  very  year  of 
Keith-Falconer's  death  Robert  P.  Wilder 
and  John  N.  For  man  were  going  about 
among  the  colleges  and  theological  schools 
of  the  United  vStates  and  Canada,  appealing 
for  volunteers,  from  the  very  best  of  the  ed- 
ucated young  men,  for  the  foreign  field. 
And  now,  during  the  ten  years  that  have 
passed  since  this  martyr  spirit  of  Aden  went 
up  to  God,  ten  thousand  lives  of  young  men 
and  women  in  Britain  and  America  have 
been  offered  to  God,  quickened  by  this  ex- 
ample of  consecration.  The  Henry  Martyn 
Memorial  Hall  at  Cambridge,  the  Hanning- 

13*7 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

ton  Memorial  Hall  at  Oxford,  and  many 
other  monuments  of  the  dead  and  living 
who  have  given  themselves  to  God's  mis- 
sion work  are  keeping  alive  the  testimony 
of  the  Cambridge  orientalist.  He,  being 
dead,  yet  speaketh,  and  no  voice  of  the  last 
half  century  is  heard  more  widely  by  the 
young  men  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 

He  sought  to  ''  call  attention  to  Arabia ; " 
he  has  done  it  in  a  way  and  to  an  extent  that 
he  never  imagined.  The  workman  fell,  but 
the  work  goes  on.  Under  Rev.  W.  R.  W. 
Gardner  and  Dr.  Young  new  currents  of  in- 
fluence are  flowing  into  and  through  Aden^ 
In  1888  a  large  number  of  Abyssinian  chil- 
dren, who  had  been  carried  into  Arabia  from 
ruined  homes  and  massacred  families,  for 
enslavement,  were  rescued  by  a  British  man- 
of-war  and  put  into  school  in  this  mission 
for  Christian  training,  to  be  sent  back  to 
Abyssinia  as  missionaries.  Christian  teach- 
ers, evangelists,  and  physicians  have  since 
gone  to  this  port  on  the  Gulf  of  Aden  to 
take  up  the  work  Keith- Falconer  laid  down. 
And  on  both  sides  of  the  Red  Sea,  in  Africa 
and  Asia,  the  mission  which  he  begun  is  likely 
to  be  the  seed  of  other  enterprises  looking 
to  the  evangelization  of  both  continents. 

138 


The  Hon.  Ion  Keith-Falconer 

The  Keith-Falconer  Mission  to  Arabia  has 
not  come  to  its  grave  because  its  founder 
sleeps  in  the  dreary  cemetery  at  Aden.  On 
these  southern  shores  of  Arabia  stand  the 
' '  Scots  Church  "  and  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land edifices,  one  of  which  latter  is  largely 
built  from  collections  made  in  the  mail 
steamers  that  ply  across  those  waters.  The 
Scots  Church,  which  is  now  building,  is 
partly  the  result  of  the  money  raised  by  the 
children  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  and 
under  the  supervision  of  an  Arab  contractor 
and  workmen,  some  of  whom  are  Jews.  And 
so,  curiously  enough.  Christians,  Arabs,  and 
Jews  unite  to  erect  Christ's  houses  of  prayer 
in  the  land  of  Ishmael !  Dr.  George  Smith, 
who  recently  visited  Aden,  testifies  to  the 
prosperity  and  hopefulness  of  the  congrega- 
tion there  worshiping  in  connection  with 
the  Scots  Church,  and  says  that  in  the 
pioneering  stage  of  the  Arab  mission  it 
supplies  the  spiritual  life  and  enthusiasm 
of  common  worship  and  evangelical  effort. 
Dr.  Young  acts  as  military  chaplain  for  the 
British  infantry  and  artillery  located  at 
Aden,  and  with  his  colleague  undertakes  not 
only  to  furnish  two  sermons  a  week,  but  to 
meet   the    demands   made  on  two  medical 

139 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

missionaries  for  Arab  and  Somali,  Jew  and 
Parsee ;  thus  on  one  hand  nourishing  piety 
in  the  British  residents,  and  reaching  out 
on  the  other  to  the  various  foreign,  Mos- 
lem, Parsee,  and  other  populations  that  need 
Gospel  effort. 

The  British  camp  and  the  native  town  of 
Aden  lie  in  the  crater  of  an  extinct  volcano. 
What  a  typical  place  in  which  to  plant  the 
Bible,  with  the  tree  of  knowledge  and  of 
life  !  And  the  Bible  is  planted  there.  On 
a  busy  corner  of  the  main  street  the  British 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society's  depot  stands, and 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lethaby  are  its  devoted  v/ork- 
ers.  Near  by  stands  the  square  and  well- 
fenced  inclosure,  with  its  somewhat  rude 
entrance,  which  is  the  resting  place  of  the 
body  of  Keith- Falconer.  In  the  middle  of 
a  row  of  graves  of  British  officers  and  men, 
each  with  a  single  cross  above  it,  may  be 
seen  the  tomb  of  the  first  missionary  that 
Scotland  gave  to  Arabia;  who,  as  Dr.  Smith 
says,  ' '  died  at  thirty,  one  year  younger  than 
Henry  Martyn,  and  was  followed  by  the 
aged  bishop,  Valpy  French,  on  the  eastern 
shore  at  Muscat.  A  massive  block  of  white 
Egyptian  marble  covers  the  grave,  while 
there  rises  at  its  head  an  exquisitely  pure 

140 


The  Hon.  Ion  Keith-Falconer 

slab,  with  an  inscription,  under  a  coronet 
which  might  well  represent  the  martyr's 
crown.  There  Dr.  Cowen,  who  was  then 
his  medical  colleague,  and  several  officers 
and  men  of  her  British  majesty's  Ninety- 
eighth  Regiment,  as  the  sun  set,  laid  all  that 
was  mortal  of  the  young  Scottish  noble, 
scholar,  and  self-consecrated  missionary  of 
the  Free  Church  of  Scotland.  The  sacred 
spot  is  the  first  missionary  milestone  into 
Arabia." 

Dr.  Smith  further  says — and  we  quote 
the  words  of  this  distinguished  correspond- 
ent as  the  latest  available  information  from 
this  field : 

''  As  the  Keith-Falconer  Mission,  bearing 
its  founder's  name  and  generuosly  supported 
by  his  famil}^  this  first  modern  mission  to 
the  Arab  may  be  said  to  have  begun  anew 
in  the  year  1889.  First  of  all.  Principal 
Mackichan,  when  on  his  return  to  Bombay, 
after  furlough,  carefully  inspected  the 
Sheikh -Othman  headquarters,  and,  with  the 
local  medical  authorities,  reported  in  favor 
of  continuing  and  extending  the  plans  of 
its  founder.  The  mission  is  now,  as  a  re- 
sult of  past  experience,  conducted  by  two 

fully  qualified  men,  one  of  whom  is  married , 
10  141 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

who  are  working  in  most  brotherly  harmony, 
preaching  the  Gospel  in  Arabic  as  well  as 
healing  the  sick.  Its  Arabic  and  English, 
school  is  taught  by  Alexander  Aabud,  a 
married  member  of  the  Syrian  Evangelical 
Church,  from  the  Lebanon,  but  trained  in 
the  American  mission  in  Egypt. 

' '  All  over  this  neighborhood  the  med- 
ical mission  founded  by  Keith-Falconer  is 
making  for  itself  a  name,  and  its  doctors  are 
received,  or  visited  at  their  dispensary,  as  the 
messengers  of  God.  European  and  native 
alike,  natives  from  India  and  Africa,  as  well 
as  the  Arab  camel  drivers  and  subjects  of 
the  Sultan  of  Lahej — himself  and  his  fam- 
ily patients  of  the  Mission — turn  to  the 
missionaries  with  gratitude  and  hope,  and 
will  do  them  any  service.  Nowhere  has  the 
influence  of  medical  missions  in  this  early 
stage,  of  course  preparatory,  been  so  re- 
markable as  in  this  Yemen  corner  of  Arabia 
during  the  past  seven  years."  ^ 

It  is,  perhaps,  proper,  before  we  add  the 
last  touches  to  this  imperfect  sketch  of  one 
of  the  finest,  brightest,  and  noblest  young 
men  of  the  century,  that  we  indicate  some 

*  Letter    lo   the    Tvv^    Church    of  Scotland  Aloiithly,    liy 
George  Smith,  LL.D. 

U2 


The  Hon.  Ion  Keith-Falconer 

of  those  special  traits  which  shone  in  him  and 
provoke  us  to  emulation.  Among  them  we 
select  the  following  as  most  pertinent  to  the 
particular  purposes  for  which  mainly  this 
book  is  prepared,  and  with  the  prayer  that 
many  of  those  who  read  these  pages  may 
follow  him  as  he  followed  the  supreme  Ex- 
emplar of  us  all. 

First,  his  simplicity.  The  childlike  char- 
acter, refined  of  what  is  merely  childish,  is 
the  divine  ideal  of  human  perfection.  We 
must  not  outgrow  the  simple  artlessness, 
humility,  docility  of  childhood,  but  rather 
grow  backward  toward  it  perpetually. 
The  ideal  child  is  inseparable  in  our  minds 
from  faith,  love,  truth,  and  trust;  and  these 
are  the  cardinal  virtues  of  Christian  charac- 
ter. To  learn  to  doubt,  to  hate,  to  lie,  to 
suspect,  is  to  learn  the  devil's  lessons,  and 
any  approach  to  these  is  just  so  much  prog- 
ress in  Satan's  school.  This  pioneer  to 
Arabia  never  lost  his  simple  childlikeness. 
His  manhood  was  not  an  outgrowing  of  his 
boyhood,  in  all  that  makes  a  child  beautiful 
and  attractive.  He  never  put  on  airs  of 
any  sort,  but  hated  all  hollow  pretense  and 
empty  professions.  His  was  that  highest 
art  of  concealing  all  art ;   in  his  most  care- 

143 


The   Picket  Line  of  Missions 

ful  work  he  did  not  lose  naturalness,  and 
in  his  most  studied  performances  there  was 
no  affectation.  He  acted  out  himself — a 
genuine,  honest,  sincere  man,  who  con- 
cealed nothing  and  had  nothing  to  conceal. 
Second,  his  eccentricity.  We  use  this 
word  because  it  has  forever  had  a  new 
meaning  by  his  interpretation  of  it.  He 
was  wont  to  say  that  a  true  disciple  must 
not  fear  to  be  called  "  eccentric."  ''  Eccen- 
tric," said  he,  "  means  *  out  of  center,''  and 
you  will  be  out  of  center  with  the  world  if 
you  are  in  center  with  Christ."  He  dared 
to  be  one  of  God's  ''peculiar  people,  zeal- 
ous of  good  works."  While  we  are  con- 
tent to  live  on  the  low  level  of  the  average 
''professor  of  religion"  we  shall  exhibit 
no  peculiarity,  for  there  is  no  peculiarity 
about  a  dead  level.  But  if,  like  a  moun- 
tain rising  from  a  plain,  we  dare  to  aspire 
to  higher  and  better  things,  to  get  nearer 
to  God,  to  live  in  a  loftier  altitude  and  at- 
mosphere, we  shall,  like  the  mountain,  be 
singular  and  exceptional,  we  cannot  escape 
observation,  and  may  not  escape  hostile  crit- 
icism. Blessed  is  the  man  who,  like  Caleb 
and  Joshua,  ventures  to  stand  compara- 
tively alone  in  testimony  to  God ;   for  it  is 

144 


The  Hon.  Ion  Keith-Falconer 

such  as  these  who  go  over  into  the  inherit- 
ance of  peculiar  privileges  and  rewards. 

Third,  his  unselfishness.  Few  of  us  ap- 
preciate the  deformity  and  enormity  of  the 
sin  of  simply  being  absorbed  in  our  own 
things.  One  may  be  a  monster  of  repulsive- 
ness  in  God's  eyes  through  qualities  that  ex- 
hibit little  outward  hatefulness  and  ugliness 
to  the  common  eye.  Greed,  lust,  ambition, 
pride,  envy  and  jealous}'-,  malice  and  un- 
charity,  may  not  be  forbidden  in  man's  deca- 
logue, but  they  eat  away  the  core  of  char- 
acter like  the  worm  in  the  apple's  heart. 
Balzac,  in  one  of  his  stories,  revives  the  old 
myth  of  the  magic  skin  which  enabled  the 
wearer  to  get  his  wish,  but  with  every  new 
gratification  of  selfish  desire  shrank  and 
held  him  in  closer  embrace,  until  it  squeezed 
the  breath  of  life  out  of  him.  And  the 
myth  is  an  open  mystery,  to  be  seen  in 
daily  life.  Every  time  that  we  seek  some- 
thing for  ourselves  only,  without  regard  to 
God's  glory  or  man's  good,  our  very  success 
is  defeat ;  we  may  get  what  we  want,  btit 
we  shrink,  in  capacity  for  the  highest  joy 
and  the  noblest  life. 

Fourth,  his  concentration.  Paul  writes  to 
the   Philippians,    ''  This  one  thing   I   do." 

145 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

In  the  original  it  is  far  more  terse  and  dense 
with  meaning.  He  uses  two  little  Greek 
words,  the  shortest  in  the  language  (ev  6e), 
"  But  one !  "  an  exclamation  that  no  words 
can  interpret.  All  his  energies  were  directed 
toward  and  converged  in  one.  Our  lives  are 
a  waste  because  they  lack  unity  of  aim  and 
effort.  We  seek  too  many  things  to  attain 
anything  great  or  achieve  anything  grand. 
Our  energies  are  divided,  scattered,  dissi- 
pated. Impulse  is  followed,  and  impulse  is 
variable,  unsteady,  and  inconstant,  while 
principle  is  constant,  like  the  pole  star. 
We  are  too  much  controlled  by  opinions 
which  change  with  the  hour,  instead  of  by 
convictions  which,  being  intelligently 
formed,  hold  us,  like  the  girdle  of  truth  in 
the  Christian  armor,  instead  of  our  merely 
holding  them.  It  is  possible  for  a  man  or 
woman  to  gain  almost  any  goal,  desirable 
or  not,  if  the  whole  energy  be  concentrated. 
How  immense  the  importance,  then,  of  get- 
ting a  right  purpose  to  command  the  soul, 
and  then  making  everything  else  bend  and 
bow  before  it! 

God  speaks  to  the  young  men  and  women 
of  our  day  as  in  trumpet  tones:  '*  He  that 
hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear ! "     An  exam- 

140 


The  Hon.  Ion  Keith- Falconer 

pie  like  that  set  before  us  in  this  life-story 
is  one  of  God's  voices.  In  Keith-Falconer 
**the  Holy  Ghost  saith,"  ^'Stop  and  con- 
sider! "  What  way  is  your  life-stream  run- 
ning? Are  you  living  for  yourself  or  for 
God  and  for  man  ?  Every  man  is  his  broth- 
er's keeper,  and  it  is  fitting  that  the  first 
man  who  questioned  this  should  have  been 
Cain,  his  brother's  murderer!  Did  it  ever 
occur  to  the  reader  that  every  one  of  us  is 
either  his  brother's  keeper  or  slayer  ?  Every 
life  is  saving  or  destroying  other  lives.  We 
lift  men  up  or  we  drag  them  down ;  there  is 
no  escape  from  responsibility. 

Keith-Falconer  saw  that  no  man  liveth 
unto  himself  and  no  man  dieth  imto  him- 
self. Life  is  bound  up  in  a  bundle  with  all 
other  life.  We  are  none  of  us  independent 
of  the  others,  and  we  cannot  escape  the  ne- 
cessity of  influencing  them  for  good  or  evil. 
Eternity  alone  can  measure  the  capacity  for 
such  influence,  for  eternity  alone  can  give 
the  vision  and  the  revelation  of  what  life 
covers  in  the  reach  and  range  of  its  mighty 
forces.  It  is  a  solemn  and  august  thought 
that,  to-day,  each  one  of  us  is  projecting 
lines  of  influence  into  the  unending  here- 
after. The  life  span  is  infinite. 
147 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

So  looked  upon,  this  short  career  of  thirty 
years  did  not  end  at  Aden  ten  years  ago. 
That  was  the  laying  of  a  basis  for  a  building 
that  is  going  on  unseen  and  silently,  and 
whose  spires  will  pierce  the  clouds.  That 
was  the  planting  of  a  seed  for  a  tree  whose 
branches  shall  shake  like  Lebanon,  and 
wave  in  beauty  and  fertility  when  the 
mountains  are  no  more.  That  was  the 
starting  of  a  career  which  is  still  going  on, 
only  that  the  cloud  is  between  us  and  its 
hidden  future,  and  we  cannot  trace  its  on- 
ward, upward  path. 

Let  us  turn  once  more  to  that  grave  at 
Aden  and  read  the  simple  inscription : 

TO 
THE   DEAR    MEMORY   OF 

THE  HON.  ION  KEITH-FALCONER, 

THIRD    SON    OF 

THE   EARL   AND    COUNTESS    OF    KINTORE, 

WHO    ENTERED    INTO    REST 

AT   SHEIKH-OTHMAN,    MAY    II,    1887, 

AGED    30    YEARS. 

"  If  any  man  serve  me,  let  him  follow  me  ;  and  where  I 
am,  there  shall  also  my  servant  be  :  if  any  man  serve  me,  him 
will  my  Father  honor." 

148 


IV 
Sia  Seh  ®ng 

BY 

S.  L.  Baldwin,  D.D. 


Sia  Sek  Ong 


IV. 

Sia    Sefc    Ongf 

EARLY    LIFE. 

It  is  well  that  in  a  series  of  missionary 
biographies  there  should  be  one  of  a  native 
preacher  upon  a  mission  field,  and  I  have 
chosen  Sia  Sek  Ong,  of  the  Foo-Chow  Mis- 
sion, as  one  suitable  to  be  enrolled  in  this 
missionary  book. 

He  was  born  in  the  mountain  village  of 
Yek-iong,  about  nine  miles  west  of  the  city 
of  Foo-Chow.  His  father  was  a  farmer,  who 
also  gave  much  attention  to  literary  pur- 
suits, a  man  having  many  .strong  points  of 
character,  of  incorruptible  honesty,  and 
very  amiable  and  pleasant  in  his  intercourse 
with  the  people.  His  mother  was  an  ex- 
cellent woman,  and  was  of  much  repute  in 
helping  people  who  were  in  sorrow  and 
need.  He  was  the  oldest  child  in  a  family 
of  five.  Opportunities  for  schooling  were 
given  him  as  soon  as  he  was  able  to  com- 
mence study.  The  chief  object  in  Chinese 
education,  aside  from  acquiring  a  sufficient 

151 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

knowledge  of  reading  and  writing  to  be 
able  to  conduct  business,  is  to  become  ac- 
quainted with  the  Confucian  classics.  He, 
therefore,  made  early  acquaintance  with 
these  books.  In  regard  to  some  of  his  early 
experiences  he  says  himself:  "  One  day  at 
school  I  saw  a  book  with  pictures  represent- 
ing the  punishment  awaiting  the  wicked. 
One  was  snatched  up  at  death  by  the  prince 
of  devils  and  sawn  asunder,  while  others 
were  roasted  at  a  copper  pipe  to  which  they 
were  chained.  It  also  gave  an  account  of  a 
good  man's  death,  and  the  glory  and  honor 
that  are  his  reward.  I  had  a  vague  belief 
in  future  retribution,  and  exerted  myself  in 
doing  good  so  that  I  might  obtain  happiness 
on  earth  and  escape  punishment  hereafter." 
He  also  intimates  that  when  he  was  about 
thirteen  years  old,  beginning  to  realize  the 
burden  and  care  of  parents  in  rearing  chil- 
dren, he  resolved  to  study  more  diligently 
and  become  a  good  man,  cherishing  in- 
wardly the  hope  that  the  gods  would  be 
pleased  with  him  and  protect  him,  so  that  he 
might  live  to  reward  his  parents  for  their 
care  of  him. 

His  mother  died  when   he  was   sixteen 
years  of  age,  and,  his  father's  burdens  in- 

152 


Sia  Sek  Ong 

creasing,  at  the  age  of  eighteen  he  left 
school  and  began  teaching  in  a  neighboring 
village.  This  relieved  his  father  of  the  ex- 
pense of  tuition  and  also  increased  his  in- 
come by  the  money  which  the  son  was  able 
to  contribute. 

In  these  early  years  he  frequently  wor- 
shiped at  heathen  temples,  hoping  to  gain 
from  the  gods  or  the  spirits  of  his  ancestors 
help  in  leading  a  good  life  and  protection 
from  evil  spirits.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that 
this  man  without  any  knowledge  of  Chris- 
tianity was  trying  to  do  the  best  he  could 
with  such  knowledge  as  he  had,  and  that  he 
had  a  sincere  purpose  to  lead  a  good  life. 

HIS  FIRST  KNOWLEDGE  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

When  Sia  was  in  his  eighteenth  year  he 
first  heard  of  people  who  believed  in  Jesus. 
They  were  known  as  hong-kaii  (followers  of 
doctrine).  This  name  ought  not  to  imply 
any  evil,  but  such  were  the  associations  in 
the  minds  of  the  people  connected  with 
the  term  that  the  young  lad  thought  they 
were  persons  of  whom  he  should  be  afraid 
and  whom  he  ought  to  avoid.  Unexpect- 
edly meeting  a  Christian  one  day  at  a  school 
taught  by  a  friend,  Sia  asked  him  to  tell 

153 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

him  something  of  Christian  doctrine,  and 
then  heard  for  the  first  time  the  Bible  ac- 
count of  the  creation.  He  says  in  regard 
to  this  conversation,  ''  Having  heard  him 
to  the  end,  I  felt  in  my  heart  that  the  nar- 
rative was  true."  Afterward  a  Christian 
teacher  visited  his  own  school  and  preached 
there,  but  Sia  says  that  he  was  like  a  deaf 
man,  that  not  a  word  entered  his  heart. 
Nevertheless,  after  the  teacher  had  gone  he 
began  to  reflect  upon  his  sincerity  and  pa- 
tience, and  to  think  that  men  ought  to  be 
like  him.  At  that  time  he  received  two 
Christian  books,  but  when  the  preacher 
came  again  and  asked  him  whether  he  had 
read  them,  not  having  read  them  at  all,  he 
replied,  "  I  have  looked  at  them,"  and  lis- 
tened to  the  preaching  with  great  prejudice 
against  the  preacher. 

The  next  year  he  taught  school  near  a 
Christian  chapel,  and  one  day  attended  the 
services.  Of  his  experience  on  that  day  he 
says:  **  I  would  fain  have  got  up  and  fled, 
but  .something  seemed  to  bind  my  feet.  It 
seemed  as  if  the  seat  I  occupied  were  full  of 
needles.  From  this  time  on  I  gradually 
comprehended  that  idols  are  nothing,  and 
felt  a  constant  desire  to  proclaim  such  of  the 

154 


Sia  Sek  Ong 

doctrines  as  I  understood.  Whenever  I  met 
a  person  who  hated  Christianity  I  tried  to 
defend  it."  Listening  once  to  a  preacher 
at  Ngu-kang,  who  spoke  of  God  as  the  ruler 
of  heaven  and  earth,  light  seemed  to  break 
in  upon  his  mind  as  he  listened,  and  the 
conviction  came  to  his  heart  that  there  truly 
is  a  God  ;  and  he  testifies  that  from  this  time 
he  made  considerable  progress  in  Christian 
knowledge,  realized  that  the  Scriptures 
helped  him  to  discriminate  between  the  true 
and  the  false,  and  that  he  must  obey  the  truth 
if  he  would  be  a  true  man.  He  also  records 
that  in  the  winter  of  that  year  another 
preacher  told  him  of  the  judgment  to  come, 
and  for  a  long  time  he  was  troubled  and  with- 
out comfort,  but  took  refuge  in  the  thought 
that  he  was  young,  and  that  he  need  not 
trouble  about  death,  and  tried  to  avoid  hear- 
ing Christianity  preached.  He  purposely 
went  to  a  village  where  there  were  no  Chris- 
tians, but  found  no  comfort  of  heart,  there 
being  nothing  in  his  new  associations  that 
could  satisfy  him. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  he  first  came 
into  contact  with  Rev.  Nathan  Sites,  and 
says  that  he  was  as  happy  in  meeting  Chris- 
tian people  in  connection  with  the  mission- 

155 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

ary  as  one  is  who  returns  from  a  foreign 
country  and  meets  his  relatives,  and  that  he 
felt  it  was  really  the  society  of  Christian 
friends  for  which  he  had  been  longing  dur- 
ing his  absence. 

COMING   TO    CHRIST 

I  do  not  remember  the  precise  time  at 
which  Sia  Sek  Ong  became  the  personal 
teacher  of  Dr.  Sites,  but  it  was  not  far  from 
the  time  of  which  we  have  just  been  speak- 
ing. He  had  the  reputation  of  being  an  ex- 
cellent teacher,  and  although  he  was  a  proud- 
spirited Confucianist  and  a  worshiper  in 
heathen  temples  he  was  employed  as  the 
personal  teacher  of  Dr.  Sites  because  of  his 
ability.  The  chapel  and  mission  residence 
at  Ngu-kang  were  under  one  roof,  the  side 
door  of  the  chapel  opening  into  the  study  of 
the  missionary.  One  day  Sia  was  sitting  in 
the  study  with  the  door  open  between  the 
study  and  the  chapel.  Li  Yu  Mi,  a  black- 
smith who  had  been  converted  but  a  short 
time  before,  was  preaching  in  the  chapel. 
Among  other  things  that  he  uttered  he  said : 
"  There  is  but  one  name  that  can  save ;  that 
is  the  name  of  Jesus."  Sia  was  angry.  He 
arose  and  shut  the  door  with  a  very  em- 

J66 


Sia  Sek  Ong 

phatic  bang  and  walked  the  floor,  saying  to 
himself :  ' '  I'll  not  listen  to  such  talk  as  this. 
How  does  this  blacksmith,  who  can  scarcely 
read  his  own  language,  dare  to  tell  us  that 
there  is  only  one  name  that  can  save,  and 
that  the  name  of  a  foreigner  we  never  heard 
of  until  a  few  months  ago?  " 

But  he  could  not  get  rid  of  the  words 
which  had  entered  his  mind.  Talking  with 
me  about  it  years  afterward,  he  said  that 
when  he  went  home  at  night  and  tried  to 
sleep  he  could  not  get  rest,  seeming  to  hear 
in  both  ears  all  the  time  the  words,  "  Only 
one  name  that  can  save  !"  The  next  day  he 
found  that  this  continued,  and  in  the  midst 
of  his  duties  he  was  continually  hearing 
these  words.  After  a  great  struggle  he 
finally  began  to  reason  with  himself,  ''After 
all  I  need  a  Saviour.  Confucius  tells  me 
nothing  about  what  is  after  death  nor  about 
my  relations  to  the  great  power  above.  All 
men  need  a  Saviour,  and  if  he  did  not  come 
from  China  how  do  I  know  but  he  may  have 
come  from  Judea,  and  may  be  the  very  Jesus 
to  whom  my  heart  has  been  so  opposed?" 

This  led  to  more  wSerious  thought,  and 
gradually  he  yielded  his  obstinate  opposition 
and  began  to  pray  to  the  true  God  for  guid- 

11  157 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

ance  and  help.  He  was  not,  however,  to 
come  at  once  into  the  light  and  be  relieved 
of  all  further  trouble.  He  passed  through 
many  severe  experiences,  sometimes  lying 
awake  through  the  night  in  great  agony. 
On  one  such  occasion  he  seemed  to  realize 
that  his  own  hardness  of  heart  was  the 
cause  of  his  sorrow,  and  determined  to  give 
up  worldly  joys  and  trust  to  God's  mercy. 
He  confessed  his  sins  and  prayed,  but  still 
the  conflict  seemed  to  be  going  on.  He 
speaks  of  it  as  if  two  giants  were  fighting 
within  him.  When  he  arose  in  the  morn- 
ing it  was  with  the  fear  that  after  all  the 
preaching  he  had  heard,  remaining  hard- 
hearted, perhaps  the  Lord  had  utterly  cast 
him  off.  He  narrates  that  at  ten  o'clock  in 
the  forenoon,  as  he  was  walking  to  and  fro, 
a  voice  seemed  to  say  to  him,  ''The  Lord 
has  heard  your  prayers  and  forgiven  your 
sins."  In  describing  this  voice  he  says,  ''It 
seemed  to  be  above  me,  at  my  side,  and 
within  me."  And  he  further  records,  "  My 
sorrow  disappeared ;  I  could  not  tell  how  or 
at  what  moment  a  peace  and  joy  unspeak- 
able filled  my  soul."  He  began  to  read  his 
Bible  regularly,  and  while  teaching  school 
he  required  his  pupils  to  sit  still  and  listen 

158 


Sia  Sek  Ong 

to  the  preaching  of  a  Christian  minister  who 
visited  them. 

In  1864  he  united  with  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church  at  Ngu-kang.  Of  course 
he  stopped  making  any  payments  to  the 
temples  of  his  native  village  and  idolatrous 
processions,  which  led  his  neighbors  to 
threaten  to  confiscate  his  property  and  to 
expel  him  from  his  home.  For  two  years 
he  suffered  much  trouble  on  this  account, 
having  the  opposition  of  his  family  as  well 
as  that  of  the  people.  But  he  received 
help  from  on  high  and  continued  a  faithful 
member  of  the  Church.  Some  of  his  neigh- 
bors began  to  listen  to  the  Gospel,  and  by 
the  end  of  two  years  from  his  union  with 
the  Church  some  fifteen  of  them  had  be- 
come Christians. 

ENTERING  THE  MINISTRY 

Like  all  the  other  new  Christians  of  those 
days,  as  soon  as  Sia  became  a  Christian  him- 
self he  began  to  proclaim  the  truth  to  others. 
Just  as  the  early  Christians  went  about 
preaching  the  word  so  did  these  Chinese 
Christians.  Without  waiting  for  license  or 
ordination  they  told  to  others  what  they 
themselves  had  felt  and  experienced. 

169 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

Dr.  Sites  asked  Sia  Sek  Ong  to  accompany 
him  to  the  villages  which  he  visited  and 
proclaim  the  doctrine.  Poinding  that  he  had 
'*  gifts,  grace,  and  usefulness,"  he  gave  him 
exhorter's  license,  and  after  a  few  months 
sent  him  to  Ming-chiang,  a  city  on  the 
other  side  of  the  river  Min.  There  he 
rented  a  chapel  and  preached  daily  for  one 
year,  and  while  engaged  in  this  work  be- 
came satisfied  that  he  must  leave  all  secular 
occupation  and  devote  himself  to  the  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel.  This  was  in  1865.  At 
the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Foo-Chow  Mis- 
sion, held  in  the  autumn  of  that  year,  he 
was  received  as  a  preacher  and  appointed  to 
the  Hok  Ing  Tong  Circuit,  which  included 
the  East  Street  Church  in  the  city  of  Foo- 
Chow,  with  Ngu-kang,  Yek-iong,  his  native 
place,  and  several  other  country  stations. 
He  met  with  many  trials,  often  suffering 
persecution,  but  preaching  with  earnestness 
and  fidelity.  He  was  much  troubled  con- 
cerning the  death  of  an  uncle  whom  he  had 
often  exhorted  to  repent,  but  upon  whom 
he  had  not  been  able  to  make  much  impres- 
sion. This  uncle  dying  very  suddenly,  it 
caused  the  preacher  great  anxiety  and  sor- 
row ;  but  he  says  that  one  night  it  seemed 

160 


Sia  Sek  Ong 

as  if  the  Saviour  stood  by  him  and  bade  him 
touch  his  hands  and  his  side, and  thereupon 
his  heart  was  filled  with  peace  and  joy. 

For  the  three  years  following,  from  1 866  to 
1869,  he  was  appointed  to  the  Hok-chiang 
Circuit.  This  was  a  very  difficult  part  of 
the  country  in  which  to  labor,  as  many  un- 
ruly people  were  to  be  found  there,  and  be- 
sides the  troubles  which  he  met  from  those 
outside  of  the  Church  he  also  experienced 
severe  trials  among  false  brethren.  Speak- 
ing of  his  experiences  during  these  years 
he  says  they  were  like  those  of  a  knife  on  a 
whetstone.  Sometimes  he  was  in  deep  sor- 
row because  the  people  did  not  understand 
the  truth,  and  at  other  times  because  many 
of  those  who  did  understand  it  rebelled 
against  it.  It  was  here  that  he  became  so 
impressed  with  the  fact  that  the  Gospel  was 
hindered  because  of  the  common  saying  that 
the  preachers  ate  the  foreigners'  rice  and 
therefore  spoke  the  foreigners*  words,  that 
he  determined  to  decline  all  support  from 
the  missionary  treasury.  This  becoming 
known  to  the  people,  when  they  found  him 
sad  and  weeping  over  their  lack  of  under- 
standing and  their  failure  to  come  to  the 
truth,  they  supposed  that  he  was  in  trouble 

161 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

because  he  was  receiving  no  money.  But  in 
the  midst  of  all  these  sorrows  he  was  driven 
nearer  to  God  and  came  into  the  enjoyment 
of  great  peace  of  soul. 

SELF-SUPPORT 

At  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Mission  fol- 
lowing he  declared  his  determination  to  take 
this  step.  During  the  year  he  was  often  in 
great  straits,  and  did  not  know  where  the 
necessary  supplies  for  the  sustenance  of  his 
family  would  come  from. 

While  planning  to  attend  a  meeting  at 
Keng-kiang  he  was  dismayed  by  the  terri- 
ble rain  that  was  falling.  He  knew  that  the 
chapel  had  only  a  wet  mud  floor,  that  the 
church  members  had  not  sufficient  room  in 
their  houses  to  entertain  him,  that  it  would 
require  a  great  exercise  of  the  voice  to  be 
heard  by  the  people  while  a  heavy  rain  was 
falling  upon  the  roof,  that  in  his  weakness 
of  body  it  was  simply  torture  to  be  shut  up 
in  such  quarters  as  he  must  have  there  with 
people  who  were  noisy,  and  many  of  whom 
smoked  tobacco,  and  that  if  the  rain  con- 
tinued he  would  be  compelled  to  stay  for 
days.  He  remarks  that  while  thinking  in 
this  way  he  was  overcome  by  sleep,  and  sud- 

162 


Sia  Sek  Ong 

denly  heard  a  voice  calling,  ''  Sia  Sek  Ong, 
how  do  you  know  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a 
human  soul  ?  If  there  is  no  soul  then  you  are 
very  foolish  to  trouble  yourself  so  about  go- 
ing to  that  meeting."  He  turned  and  lis- 
tened, but  hearing  no  one  he  opened  the 
door  and  asked  the  assistant  preacher 
whether  he  had  spoken,  but  the  assistant 
was  sound  asleep.  He  could  not  determine 
whether  the  voice  came  from  within  or  with- 
out, and  said  to  himself,  '*  This  voice  comes 
near  sound  reason."  All  day  long  he  felt 
that  the  doctrine  of  the  soul  was  mere  con- 
jecture, and  he  began  to  plan  for  moving 
his  family  home  lest  he  should  spend  his 
strength  for  naught.  While  such  thoughts 
as  these  were  still  agitating  his  mind  in  the 
night  suddenly  a  bright  light  filled  the 
room,  and  the  cross  of  Jesus  shone  in  inde- 
scribable splendor  before  his  eyes.  He 
realized  that  he  had  been  tempted,  and  said 
to  himself,  "If  man  has  no  soul,  then  what 
means  the  Saviours  cross?"  With  this 
peace  returned  to  his  heart,  and  he  deter- 
mined to  go  on  with  his  duty  as  a  preacher 
without  regard  to  the  joy  or  sorrow  that 
might  await  him,  and  without  inquiring 
whether  men  knew  any  of  his  trials  or  not. 

163 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

When  the  time  of  the  Annual  Meeting 
again  arrived  he  found  that  all  he  had  re- 
ceived in  money,  fuel,  and  food  during  the 
year  was  about  enough  to  support  a  family 
of  eight  persons  three  months.  But  as  he 
had  then  only  his  wife  and  one  child  they 
had  managed  to  live  a  year  on  this  income, 
although  during  the  year  he  had  been 
obliged  to  pawn  some  of  his  clothes. 
Brethren  from  other  districts  collected 
enough  money  to  enable  him  to  redeem 
them. 

During  the  first  few  years  in  which  he 
was  on  self-support  he  never  spoke  about 
his  financial  affairs  to  anyone,  and  his  true 
condition  in  this  respect  was  not  known. 
There  were  some  who  suspected  that  he 
was  secretly  getting  help  from  the  mission- 
aries, and  when  Bishop  Harris  visited  the 
Mission  in  1873  one  of  these  publicly  stated 
his  suspicions  in  a  speech  at  the  Annual 
Meeting.  He  then  replied  that  since  1870 
his  hand  had  not  handled  a  foreign  dollar, 
and  the  discussion  tended  to  increase  the 
movement  toward  self-support  in  the  Mis- 
sion. 

Two  years  later,  when  he  was  appointed 
to  Hinghua,    a   brother   tried    to  dissuade 

164 


Sia  Sek  Ong 

him  from  moving  his  family  on  the  ground 
that  they  would  not  be  properly  provided 
for;  but  when  he  reached  the  parsonage 
he  found  a  month's  food  awaiting  them, 
and  as  he  started  upon  his  first  round  the 
preachers  and  members  had  his  quarterage 
ready  and  handed  it  over  to  him.  He 
makes  record  that  all  the  finances  were  ad- 
ministered in  the  disciplinary  way,  and 
matters  improved  from  year  to  year.  We 
give  his  own  words  as  to  his  experiences  at 
this  time  :  "I  saw  the  darkness  and  super- 
stition of  the  world  and  felt  a  strong  desire 
to  build  up  a  church  in  men's  hearts,  so  that 
with  new  hearts  they  might  accept  the 
truth  and  lead  true  lives.  I  considered  this 
the  greatest  work  of  life,  and  with  this  as 
my  sole  purpose  I  could  leave  the  matter 
of  salary  to  the  judgment  and  good  will  of 
the  native  Christians.  Thanks  be  to  God, 
who  thus  enabled  me  to  carry  out  the  princi- 
ple of  self-support  on  three  districts.  Al- 
though many  hated  my  course  and  tried  to 
put  difficulties  in  my  way  it  nevertheless 
became  brighter  and  brighter,  so  that  I 
could  see  that  it  was  of  the  Lord,  and  must 
succeed  in  the  end.  I  seemed  to  see  the 
day  of  self-support  almost  from  the  outset." 

165 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

Not  long  after  this  time  he  was  put  to  a 
severe  test,  when,  in  the  judgment  of  the 
Mission,  it  was  necessary  to  station  him  on 
the  Yong-bing  District.  This  was  entirely 
a  missionary  district.  There  were  no  na- 
tive Christians  who  could  support  him. 
There  was  much  ground  to  be  occupied, 
and  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  give  sup- 
port to  the  person  who  should  be  appointed 
to  preside  over  it.  It  was  more  of  a  trial 
by  far  to  him  to  consent  to  go  receiving 
missionary  support  than  it  had  been  to  en- 
dure all  manner  of  trials  because  of  the 
lack  of  money  while  he  was  on  self-support. 
Yet,  when  convinced  of  the  duty,  he  took 
up  the  work  and  went  forward  with  great 
energy. 

It  will  be  in  place  before  leaving  this 
matter  to  say  that  the  work  of  self-support 
has  steadily  grown  until  a  considerable 
number  of  stations  or  circuits  now  entirely 
support  their  preachers,  and  some  of  the 
districts  give  full  support  to  their  presiding 
elders.  In  November,  1896,  Bishop  Joyce, 
by  the  authority  of  the  General  Conference, 
set  off  the  new  Hinghua  Mission  Conference, 
starting  with  nearly  6,000  members  and 
probationers,  and  leaving  over  7,000  in  the 

166 


Sia  Sek  Ong 

old  Foo-Chow  Conference.  This  new  Con- 
ference has  grown  out  of  the  work  in  which 
Sia  Sek  Ong  was  engaged  when  he  first 
traveled  the  district  on  self-support.  The 
whole  work  in  the  district  is  more  than  half 
self-supporting,  and  the  Rev.  W.  N.  Brew- 
ster, who  is  the  superintendent,  expects  to 
secure  full  self-support  of  the  native  preach- 
ers in  the  Conference  within  a  few  years. 
Much  of  this  result  is  due  to  the  early  and 
faithful  labors  and  sacrifices  of  Sia  Sek  Ong 
in  this  direction. 

PROGRESS  AND  ENCOURAGEMENT 

The  visits  of  the  bishops  from  time  to 
time  were  sources  of  great  encouragement 
and  help  to  the  native  preachers,  and  to 
none  more  so  than  to  Sia  Sek  Ong.  The 
first  visit  was  made  by  Bishop  Thomson  in 
1865,  but  Mr.  Sia  was  not  then  a  member 
of  the  Church.  The  next  was  in  1869  by 
Bishop  Kingsley,  for  whom  Brother  Sia 
formed  a  very  strong  attachment.  The 
bishop  recognized  the  strength  of  his  mind 
and  the  Christian  spirit  which  animated 
him,  and  wrote  many  hearty  words  of  ap- 
preciation in  his  letters  from  the  field. 

A  very  joyous  love  feast  was  held  during 

167 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

Bishop  Kingsley's  sojourn,  at  which  Sia, 
among  others,  gave  cordial  expression  to  his 
joy  and  gratitude  over  the  bishop's  visit. 
At  this  time  he  was  ordained  both  deacon 
and  elder,  and  although  he  was  not  ap- 
pointed presiding  elder, yet  the  emergencies 
of  the  work  in  a  very  few  months  required 
him  to  do  practically  the  work  of  a  presiding 
elder  on  a  large  district.  When  Bishop  Har- 
ris visited  the  Mission  in  1873  much  prog- 
ress had  been  made  in  the  work,  and  Sia 
Sek  Ong  was  appointed  Presiding  Elder  of 
the  Foo-Chow  District.  The  bishop  greatly 
endeared  himself  to  the  native  preachers 
during  his  short  stay,  and  their  grateful  tes- 
timonies on  the  last  day  of  the  Conference 
session  were  accompanied  with  tears  and 
deep  emotion  such  as  up  to  that  time  had 
rarely  been  seen  in  a  Chinese  congregation. 
In  1877  Bishop  Wiley,  who  had  been  a 
missionary  a  quarter  of  a  century  before 
in  this  very  field,  came  to  organize  the  Foo- 
Chow  Conference.  Having  toiled  in  the 
dark  days  when  there  was  no  convert  to 
greet  the  labors  of  the  missionaries  it  was  a 
great  joy  to  him  to  see  such  a  body  of 
earnest,  faithful  ministers  of  the  truth  as  he 
found  at  that  time.     He  speaks  of  Sia  Sek 

168 


Sia  Sek  Ong 

Ong  as  the  John  Fletcher  of  the  Mission, 
and  in  many  respects  this  was  an  appropriate 
characterization . 

When  Sia  Sek  Ong  first  felt  impelled  to 
start  out  as  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel  it  was 
with  the  stern  opposition  of  his  sturdy 
father,  who  believed  that  his  son  was  doing 
despite  to  the  memory  of  his  ancestors  in 
going  out  to  preach  this  foreign  and  hated 
doctrine.  After  some  time  had  passed, 
however,  his  father  sent  for  him  to  come 
home,  saying  that  he  could  not  bear  to  be 
separated  from  him,  that  if  his  son  would 
be  a  Christian  that  was  something  which  he 
could  not  control,  but  he  wished  still  to  have 
an  affectionate  feeling  between  them.  The 
father  then  began  to  examine  the  Bible 
himself,  *'  to  see  what  had  crazed  the  mind 
of  his  son,"  the  result  of  which  was  that  the 
same  kind  of  insanity  seized  upon  himself 
and  he  soon  became  a  trusting  Christian. 
It  was  with  great  pleasure  that  at  the  Con- 
ference of  1877  we  saw  Sia  Kai  Luang,  the 
venerable  father  of  Sia  Sek  Ong,  ordained 
as  local  deacon  in  our  Church,  an  office 
which  he  filled  with  fidelity  and  very 
acceptably  to  the  people  to  the  end  of  his 
life. 

169 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

LITERARY    LABOR 

Among  other  eminent  services  rendered 
by  Mr.  Sia  to  the  Mission  his  literary  work 
is  prominent.  He  has  been  connected  for 
many  years  with  the  publication  of  the 
Fookie7i  CJitn'cJi  Gazette^  which  is  the  CJiristian 
Advocate  of  the  Foo-Chow  Mission.  In  con- 
nection with  the  foreign  missionaries  who 
have  had  charge  of  the  paper  he  has  done 
much  valuable  work,  disseminating  a  great 
deal  of  information  concerning  foreign 
countries,  as  well  as  articles  on  the  doc- 
trines and  history  of  Christianity. 

He  is  the  author  of  various  tracts  and 
leaflets,  one  of  the  best  known  of  which  is 
the  tract  entitled,  Who  is  Jestis?  which  was 
written  in  response  to  an  offer  by  Rev.  Y.  J. 
Allen,  editor  of  a  Church  newspaper  pub- 
lished at  Shanghai,  of  a  premium  for  the 
best  essay  on  the  text,  ''  But  whom  say  ye 
that  I  am?  "  There  were  many  essays  sent 
in,  and  after  full  examination  the  premium 
was  awarded  to  Sia  Sek  Ong.  The  essay 
was  afterward  published  as  a  tract  at  the 
Mission  Press  in  Foo-Chow,  and  was  also 
translated  and  has  for  twenty  years  been 
published  as  an  English  tract  by  our  Tract 

170 


Sia  Sek  Ong 

Society.  The  conception  of  it  is  that  of 
Jesus  himself  answering  the  question .  Some 
extracts  are  appended  to  give  the  reader  an 
idea  of  his  style  : 

' '  The  facts  concerning  me  are  these : 
Though  originally  without  form,  yet  I  have 
a  form ;  though  originally  without  a  body, 
yet  I  have  a  body.  Though  I  have  a  form, 
I  do  not  depend  on  it  for  life;  though  I 
have  a  body,  I  have  no  solicitude  for  it.  I 
am  the  resurrection  and  the  life.  Except 
by  me  none  can  ascend  to  heaven.  Except 
by  me  none  can  escape  hell.  I  am  an  ex- 
ample of  righteous  living  for  all  men  ;  I  am 
the  beginning  of  a  new  life  for  all  mankind. 
I  am  the  revealer  to  sinful  men  of  their  just 
condemnation ;  the  giver  of  repentance  for 
past  transgressions ;  the  guide  of  the  peo- 
ple to  God ;  the  Saviour  of  the  people  from 
their  sins;  a  redeeming  sacrifice  for  the 
sins  of  the  world ;  the  leader  of  the  resur- 
rection to  all  the  dead.  I  was  rich,  but  for 
your  sakes  became  poor;  I  was  exalted,  but 
for  your  sakes  humbled  myself  and  conde- 
scended to  become  a  man,  taking  upon  me 
the  form  of  a  servant.  These  things  you 
twelve  men  have  already  heard  and  known. 

*  *  Think !     Who  is  he  that  will  not  break 
171 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

the  bruised  reed  ?  Who  is  he  that  will  not 
quench  the  smoking  flax?  Who  is  he  that 
dies  for  sinners?  Who  is  he  that  prays  for 
his  enemies?  Who  is  he  who  when  he 
suffers,  threatens  not,  and  when  he  is  re- 
viled, revileth  not  again?  Who  is  he  whom 
men  regard  as  a  root  out  of  dry  ground, 
treat  as  a  criminal,  see  in  him  no  beauty 
that  they  should  desire  him,  appoint  him 
his  grave  with  the  wicked  ?  Of  what  family 
is  he  the  son,  think  you?  To  what  house- 
hold does  he  belong?  Is  he  one  of  the 
prophets  returned  to  the  world,  or  John 
raised  from  the  dead? 

"  Are  not  ye  the  twelve  whom  I  have 
chosen  ?  Ye  ought  to  know  me  ;  but  every 
day  ye  show  that  ye  have  not  yet  appre- 
hended me.  Therefore  ye  ask,  '  Who  shall 
be  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ?  ' 
Therefore  ye  are  filled  with  indignation 
against  John  and  his  brother.  Therefore 
ye  dispute  by  the  way  who  shall  be  great- 
est. Therefore  ye  ignorantly  talk  of  build- 
ing tabernacles  on  the  Mount  of  Transfigu- 
ration. When  I  speak  of  my  approaching 
death  and  resurrection,  ye  rebuke  me. 
When  I  walk  on  the  sea,  ye  think  it  is  a 
spirit.     When  I  rebuke  the  wind,  ye  say, 

172 


Sia  Sek  Ong 

'  What  manner  of  man  is  this?  '  When  I 
would  wash  your  feet,  ye  refuse  me.  When 
ye  walk  on  the  water  to  come  to  me,  ye  are 
still  afraid. 

^*  Now  ye  have  walked  by  my  side  and 
been  intimate  with  me  for  three  years.  You 
have  heard  of  my  changing  water  into 
wine.  You  saw  my  transfiguration  on  the 
mountain.  You  know  that  with  a  word  I 
defeated  the  devil  and  escaped  from  his 
snares.  You  saAv  me  feed  the  multitude 
with  five  fishes,  and  yet  have  fragments  to 
gather  up.  And  greater  things  than  these  : 
the  blind  see,  the  deaf  hear,  the  lame  walk, 
the  dumb  speak,  the  lepers  are  cleansed, 
the  maimed  are  healed,  all  diseases  are 
cured,  the  dead  are  raised.  These  things 
the  holy  prophets  of  old  desired  to  see,  but 
saw  not ;  and  to  hear,  but  heard  not.  But 
blessed  are  your  eyes,  for  they  see,  and 
your  ears,  for  they  hear.  Now,  carefully 
reflecting  upon  what  you  have  seen  and 
heard,  whom  say  ye  that  I  am?  " 

' '  Somewhat  in  this  manner  I  suppose  Je- 
sus talked  with  his  disciples.  I  now  leave 
this  question,  '  Who  is  Jesus?  '  with  the 
reader,  praying  that  the  Holy  Spirit  may 
guide  him  in  his  meditations  upon  it,  until 

12  .173 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

with    Thomas   he    shall   joyfully   exclaim, 
'  My  Lord  and  my  God !  '" 

His  sermons  were  always  extempore,  so 
far  as  the  wording"  was  concerned.  But 
they  were  thoroughly  studied,  as  a  rule,  be- 
fore being  delivered.  His  sermon  on  Sun- 
day morning,  during  Bishop  Kingsley's 
visit,  was  one  long  to  be  remembered.  It 
was  from  the  text,  ' '  If  any  man  will  come 
after  me,  let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up 
his  cross,  and  follow  me."  I  give  a  few 
words  from  it:  ''You  must,  then,  first 
think  what  manner  of  man  Jesus  was.  He 
was  not  rich,  nor  honored,  nor  great.  He 
was  poor,  despised,  lonely.  We  must  be 
willing  to  be  the  same.  We  must  not  try 
to  meet  him  in  the  dark  when  nobody  can 
see  us,  like  Nicodemus,  but  we  must  openly 
follow  him.  We  must  not  follow  him,  like 
the  five  thousand,  for  the  loaves  and  fishes, 
nor,  like  the  sons  of  Zebedee,  for  worldly 
honors.  We  must  not  follow  him  to  dwell 
on  the  mountain  top,  but  follow  him  be- 
cause he  has  the  words  of  life  and  there  is 
no  one  else  who  can  give  them  to  us.  If 
we  follow  him  our  enemies  will  be  those  of 
our  own  households,  but  we  must  still  fol- 
low. Whether  the  road  be  smooth  or  rough, 
1Y4 


Sia  Sek  Ong 

or  if  it  carries  us  into  the  waves  of  the  sea, 
still  we  must  follow.  We  cannot  go  on  to 
the  mountain  top  and  build  three  tents  and 
stay  there.  We  must  follow  him  out  of  the 
city,  into  the  garden  of  Gethsemane,  to  the 
mockery  of  the  soldiers,  to  being  spitten 
upon,  to  Calvary,  to  the  cross !  We  must 
hear  him  exclaim,  '  Why  hast  thou  left  me, 
O  my  God?  '  and  still  follow  him.  Follow 
him  to  death,  to  the  grave.  And  shall  we 
stop  here?  O  no !  Who  can  keep  Jesus  in 
the  grave?  Nobody!  nobody!  We  will 
follow  him  in  the  resurrection  to  life.  But 
we  will  not  stop  there.  The  Head  has  as- 
cended to  heaven,  the  members  shall  also. 
There  is  no  help  for  it,  but  they  must  fol- 
low their  Head.  Then  we  will  look  back 
over  the  way,  see  the  dangers,  the  unnum- 
bered trials  we  have  passed,  and  as  we 
tremble  God  himself  shall  wipe  away  the 
tears  from  our  eyes.  Then,  when  we  think 
upon  the  means  of  our  salvation,  we  will 
find  it  has  not  been  by  our  good  works,  or 
deeds  of  merit,  but  just  by  following  Jesus 
wherever  he  has  led,  until  all  the  dangers 
of  the  way  have  been  surmounted. 

"Fathers,   brethren,    sisters,   up  and  be 
doing.     Gird  yourselves  for  the  work.    You 

175 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

may  not  be  able  to  bear  other  burdens  or 
exert  strength  in  other  directions,  but  you 
may  bear  the  great  burden  of  the  cross,  for 
Jesus  is  your  strength ;  and  when  we  have 
followed  him  into  heaven  we  will  rejoice 
and  shout.  Glory  to  God  and  the  Lamb  for- 
ever !  May  we  all  with  diligence  and  pa- 
tience bear  the  cross  and  reach  eternal 
life." 

VISIT    TO    THE    UNITED    STATES 

It  is  not  necessary  to  follow  with  any  de- 
tail the  subsequent  years  of  this  personal 
history.  In  the  work  of  a  presiding  elder 
on  different  districts,  as  a  skillful  and  faith- 
ful instructor  in  the  Theological  School,  as 
a  pastor  in  charge  of  our  most  important 
churches,  this  man  has  demonstrated  him- 
self ' '  a  workman  that  needeth  not  to  be 
ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the  word  of 
truth."  Everywhere  his  ministry  has  been 
faithful,  and  he  has  secured  the  respect  of 
those  who  remain  heathen  and  the  affec- 
tion of  the  Christian  congregations  which 
he  has  served.  In  some  regions  he  was 
more  successful,  apparently,  in  securing  the 
conversion  of  souls  than  in  others;  but 
whether  his  field    was  one   ripe  unto  the 

176 


Sia  Sek  Ong 

harvest  and  he  was  engaged  in  the  delight- 
ful work  of  reaping,  or  whether  it  was  a 
barren  wilderness  where  he  was  sowing  the 
seed  of  truth  with  little  in  immediate  re- 
sults to  encourage  him,  he  alike  preserved 
his  serene  confidence  in  the  Master  whom 
he  served  and  was  faithful  to  the  duty  of 
the  hour,  I  do  not  think  he  ever  under- 
took to  sum  up  the  conversions  which  have 
taken  place  under  his  labors.  It  is  safe, 
however,  to  say  that  hundreds  of  souls 
have  been  brought  to  Christ  through  his 
ministrations,  and  that  perhaps  even  more 
important  work  has  been  done  by  him  in 
the  patient  instruction  and  edification  of  the 
professed  followers  of  Christ. 

At  the  Conference  of  1887  he  was  elected 
a  delegate  to  the  General  Conference,  which 
met  in  New  York  in  1888.  He  was  accom- 
panied to  the  United  States  by  Rev.  Dr. 
Sites,  who  acted  as  his  interpreter  during 
his  visit.  He  had  the  pleasure  of  visiting 
some  of  our  largest  institutions,  and  was 
deeply  impressed  with  all  he  saw  and  heard. 
When  he  was  at  the  De  Pauw  University 
at  Greencastle,  Ind.,  showing  great  delight 
in  the  sight  of  so  many  students  seek- 
ing the  higher   realms   of  knowledge,   he 

177 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

was  asked,  ''  What  has  impressed  you  most 
of  what  you  have  seen  here?  "  His  answer 
was,  ''The  fact  that  so  many  hundreds  of 
young  men  and  young  women  can  study 
here  together;  "  and  his  quick  mind  saw  in 
this  fact  one  of  the  great  revolutions  that 
Christianity  was  destined  to  work  for  the 
people  of  his  own  country. 

There  were  great  revelations  to  him  in 
the  immense  factories,  the  machine  shops, 
the  railways,  and  in  fact  in  all  the  great, 
busy,  bustling  life  of  the  young  republic. 
He  was  a  faithful  listener  to  all  the  debates 
of  the  General  Conference,  the  purport  of 
which  was  made  known  to  him  by  Dr.  Sites, 
gave  careful  study  to  the  important  ques- 
tions that  came  before  the  body,  and  came 
to  independent  decisions  in  regard  to  them. 
One  instance  of  this  is  found  in  his  view  of 
the  eligibility  of  women  to  the  General  Con- 
ference. He  listened  very  carefully  to  the 
interpretation  of  the  arguments  on  both 
sides,  and  although  his  interpreter,  friend, 
and  instructor  was  himself  of  the  view  that 
the  women  elected  delegates  were  not  eli- 
gible, Mr.  Sia  remarked  at  the  close  of  the 
discussion,  "  Many  strong  arguments  have 
been  presented  against  them,  but  neverthe- 

178 


Sia  Sek  Ong 

less  I  am  seven  tenths  in  favor  of  their  ad- 
mission ;  "  and  he  voted  according-ly. 

One  pleasant  incident  of  the  session  oc- 
curred when  the  newly  elected  bishops  were 
consecrated.  Bishop  Joyce  had  requested 
that  the  delegate  from  China  might  take 
part  in  his  ordination.  So  it  happened  that 
the  friend  of  Bishop  Wiley  from  far-off 
China  was  one  of  those  who  laid  hands  in 
the  consecrating  rite  upon  the  head  of  that 
other  dear  friend  of  the  bishop  who  was 
about  to  be  ordained  to  the  highest  office  of 
the  Church. 

I  was  at  the  time  pastor  of  St.  John's 
Church,  Boston,  and  it  was  an  indescribable 
joy  to  have  him  preach  in  my  pulpit  and  to 
interpret  to  my  people  his  earnest  words; 
and  especially  to  have  him  join  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  Lord's  Supper  to  my 
American  congregation.  I  thought  of  the 
days  when  he  was  a  heathen  on  the  hillside 
at  Yek-iong,  and  of  all  his  faithful  ministry 
since  his  conversion,  and  my  heart  was  too 
full  for  utterance  as  I  saw  American  Chris- 
tians receiving  from  his  hands,  as  those  of 
an  honored  minister  of  Christ,  the  emblems 
of  the  broken  body  and  shed  blood  of  our 
Redeemer. 

119 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

His  address  to  the  Boston  Preachers' 
Meeting  was  full  of  the  earnest  spirit  of  a 
consecrated  Christian  minister,  and  produced 
a  most  favorable  impression  upon  all  who 
listened  to  it.  Wherever  he  went  the  at- 
tention of  our  people  was  secured,  higher 
ideas  were  fonned  of  the  possibilities  of 
Christian  grace  among  the  Chinese,  and 
deeper  interest  aroused  in  the  work  of  God  in 
China. 

While  at  our  parsonage,  Mrs.  Baldwin 
said  to  him,  "  Now  you  have  seen  our  coun- 
try, how  does  it  impress  you  as  compared 
with  your  own  ?"  With  exceeding  sadness 
of  face  and  tone,  he  replied,  ''  Your  country 
is  alive ;   my  country  is  dead !" 

A    SERENELY    CLOSING    LIFE 

On  his  return  to  China  Mr.  Sia  went 
among  the  churches  lecturing  upon  the 
United  States,  and  awakened  intense  inter- 
est as  he  told  of  the  wonderful  things  he 
had  seen  and  of  the  mighty  evidences  of 
the  superiority  of  Christianity  as  shown  in 
the  development  and  progress  of  a  great 
Christian  country.  Many  of  the  things  he 
had  to  tell,  as  those  which  he  had  actually 
seen,  seemed  to  the  natives  almost  incred- 

180 


Sla  Sek  Ong 

ible,  and  they  listened  with  delight  as  one 
wonder  after  another  was  brought  to  view 
in  his  vivid  descriptions.  But  while  awak- 
ening their  interest  in  the  material  progress 
of  our  land  he  did  not  fail  to  enforce  the  les- 
sons of  Christian  experience  which  he  had 
learned  in  his  visits  to  many  of  our  churches. 
The  whole  influence  of  his  utterances  was 
of  a  spiritually  beneficial  character. 

During  the  progress  of  the  war  with 
Japan  he  felt  called  upon  to  preach  a 
series  of  sermons  in  regard  to  the  needs  of 
China.  They  were  exceedingly  able  dis- 
courses, commanded  the  attention  of  his 
congregations  and  stirred  them  to  a  more 
profound  interest  in  the  welfare  of  their 
country  than  they  had  before  experienced. 
The  leading  thought  in  these  sermons  was 
that  China  was  suffering  because  of  her 
blind  adherence  to  the  past,  that  she  was 
forever  looking  backward  and  living  in  the 
remote  ages  of  antiquity,  while  she  ought 
to  be  alive  to  the  immense  progress  of  the 
present  age  and  the  great  possibilities  of 
the  opening  future;  that  she  must  cease 
looking  to  the  past,  and  look  forward  with 
hope  and  with  a  determination  to  be  felt 
as  a  power  among  the  nations  in  the  days 

181 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

to  come.  He  showed  how  necessary  it  was 
that  she  should  become  Christian  in  order 
to  have  the  impulse  which  comes  from  the 
life  of  Christ  in  the  heart,  the  awakening  of 
intellectual  power,  and  the  stimulation  of 
all  the  noblest  faculties  of  the  human  soul. 
He  is  now  nearly  laid  aside  from  active 
service,  but,  no  doubt,  can  say,  as  another  of 
our  veterans,  Hu  Po  Mi,  recently  wrote  me : 
* '  I  do  not  wish  to  become  an  idle  servant 
of  Christ.  It  is  my  desire  to  do  his  work 
till  my  eyes  close  for  a  newer  and  happier 
world."  

After  the  above  had  gone  to  the  printer, 
the  sad  news  of  the  death  of  Sia  Sek  Ong 
came  in  a  letter  from  his  eldest  son,  Sia 
Tieng  Ang,  now  a  student  in  the  Illinois 
Wesleyan  University.  He  died  March  24, 
1 897 ;  but  we  are  as  yet  without  any  par- 
ticulars. The  temporal  life  has  merged 
into  the  eternal ;  the  mortal  has  put  on  im- 
mortality. An  eminent  and  faithful  minis- 
ter of  Christ  has  gone  to  his  reward ;  but 
his  work  abides  in  the  hearts  and  lives  of 
those  whom  he  brought  to  Christ,  and  in  the 
influences  he  set  in  motion  for  the  awaken- 
ing of  a  new  life  among  his  people. 

182 


3obn  Ikenneth  fIDacftensic,  fIDe&lcal 
flDieeionari?  to  Cbina 


BY 

Jennie  M.  Bingham 


John  Kenneth  Mackenzie 


V 

John  Kenneth  Mackenzie,  Medical  Missionary 
to  China 

EARLY  LIFE 

August  25,  1850,  at  Yarmouth,  on  the 
Isle  of  Wight,  John  Kenneth  Mackenzie 
was  born.  His  father  was  a  Scotchman 
and  his  mother  Welsh,  people  of  earnest, 
simple-hearted  piety.  The  boy  Kenneth 
was  noted  for  his  reserve  and  a  very  quick 
temper.  He  had  great  strength  of  will, 
which  made  him  undaunted  in  the  presence 
of  the  great  difficulties  of  his  after  life. 
His  parents  removed  to  Bristol,  where  his 
youth  was  spent.  "  He  showed  little  liking 
for  study  and  left  school  at  the  age  of  fifteen 
to  become  a  clerk  in  a  merchant's  office." 

TWO    DAYS 

He,  with  his  chums,  joined  a  Bible  class 
held  in  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion rooms  Sunday  afternoon.  A  certain 
May  Sunday  the  subject  was,  ''A  Good 
Conscience."    The  Bible  study  was  followed 

185 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

by  an  address  from  Mr.  Moody,  who  was 
there  on  his  first  visit  to  England.  Mac- 
kenzie was  among  those  who  rose  for  prayer. 
The  year  that  followed  was  full  of  doubt 
and  questioning.  He  realized  his  need  of 
help  from  a  higher  source  than  himself,  but 
found  it  difficult  to  believe.  Finally  he  left 
the  Bible  class  altogether. 

The  anniversary  of  that  day  when  he  arose 
for  prayers  found  him  in  his  place  at  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  rooms. 
An  Association  secretary  from  London  spoke 
and  asked  those  young  men  to  refuse  or  ac- 
cept Jesus  Christ.  Kenneth  arose  and  sev- 
eral young  men  with  him,  one  of  whom  after- 
ward followed  him  to  China  as  a  missionary. 

He  afterward  said,  "  My  doubts  and  ques- 
tionings have  all  been  met  in  the  person  of 
Jesus  Christ  himself." 

ACTIVE    SERVICE 

At  once  he  threw  himself  into  Christian 
work.  He  held  open-air  services,  visited 
lodging  houses  and  ragged  schools,  dis- 
tributed literature  at  street  corners,  worked 
at  the  Midnight  Mission,  and  was  remark- 
ably successful  with  notorious  criminals. 
Feeling    a   need   of   proficiency   in    public 

186 


John  Kenneth  Mackenzie 

speaking  he  and  his  friends  formed  a 
unique  training  college.  They  met  in  a 
broken-down  cow  shed,  two  miles  out  in  the 
country,  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
Here  they  took  turns  in  delivering  carefully 
prepared  sermons  and  knelt  on  the  earth- 
floor  in  earnest  prayer.  Kenneth's  talks  are 
declared  by  his  companions  to  have  been 
"  most  interesting  and  full  of  Bible." 

He  worked  at  the  evangelistic  services 
held  every  winter  in  the  Bristol  Theater,  and 
here  met  a  friend,  Colonel  Duncan,  to  whom 
he  first  spoke  of  his  desire  to  become  a  foreign 
missionary.  Colonel  Duncan's  answer  was : 
*'  You  are  still  young.  Study  medicine  and 
go  to  China  as  a  medical  missionary."  He 
put  in  his  hands  a  pamphlet,  entitled  Tke 
Double  Ctire ;  or,  What  is  a  Medical  Mission  ? 

This  led  Mackenzie  to  his  decision.  His 
first  difficulty  was  the  objection  of  his 
parents,  ' '  which  was  withdrawn  in  answer 
to  prayer." 

OFF  FOR  CHINA 

Very  little  is  known  of  his  student  life 
except  that  it  was  very  thorough  and  his 
preparation  complete.  He  took  post-gradu- 
ate courses  in  a  London  eye  hospital. 

He  wrote  to  his  Mission  Board :  "  I  am 

187 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

engaged  to  be  married,  but  shall  follow  the 
advice  of  missionaries  and  wait  a  couple  of 
years  to  learn  the  language  before  I  marry. 
I  can  understand  that  a  missionary's  life 
must  be  a  lonely  one,  and  a  wife  a  solace  and 
help." 

AT   HANKOW 

Hankow  is  the  great  commercial  city  of 
China,  at  the  junction  of  two  great  rivers, 
the  Yang-tse  and  Han,  and  with  its  two 
large  neighboring  cities  is  called  the  heart 
of  the  empire.  The  tea  trade  alone  amounts 
to  fifteen  million  dollars  annually.  The 
first  Sunday  after  his  arrival  Mackenzie 
went  on  board  the  ships  in  the  harbor  and 
did  evangelistic  work  there.  If  he  could 
not  yet  speak  Chinese  he  could  speak  Eng- 
lish and  do  missionary  work  among  English 
sailors.  The  next  day  he  began  work  in  the 
hospital  and  his  struggle  with  the  language. 
A  hospital  had  been  built  and  put  tempora- 
rily into  the  hands  of  the  foreign  community 
physician.  At  once  he  had  more  medical 
duties  than  he  wanted.     He  wrote : 

**  I  am  besieged  with  eye  disea.se.  Two 
sisters,  blind  from  birth,  came  to  the  hospi- 
tal. I  operated  upon  them,  and  both  can 
see  well.     They  became  deeply  interCvSted 

188 


John  Kenneth  Mackenzie 

in  the  truth  and  were  baptized  before  leav- 
ing. A  woman  restored  to  sight  after  a 
blindness  of  fifteen  years  prayed  at  a  hos- 
pital prayer  meeting  that  the  blessing  of 
the  one  true  God  of  whom  she  had  learned 
might  rest  upon  the  foreign  doctor  for  what 
he  had  done  for  her. 

' '  After  a  successful  operation  on  a  little 
girl  her  father,  belonging  to  the  proud  lit- 
erary class,  went  down  on  his  knees  and 
knocked  his  forehead  on  the  floor  to  express 
deep  homage.  I  lifted  him  up  and  told 
him  to  kneel  only  to  God.  While  here  in 
the  hospital  he  was  thoroughly  instructed 
in  the  Christian  faith." 

DAILY    PREACHING 

Daily  preaching  is  carried  on  in  most  of 
the  mission  chapels  in  China.  A  shop  in  a 
crowded  street  is  rented  and  fitted  up  as  a 
*'Glad  Tidings  Hall,"  where  the  foreign 
missionary  and  his  native  assistant  for 
many  hours  every  day  proclaim  salvation 
through  Jesus  to  those  coming  in.  No 
regular  service  is  held,  but  as  the  coolies 
resting  from  their  burdens,  the  countryman 
with  his  basket,  the  peddler  with  his  bun- 
dle come  in  for  a  while  the  preacher,  in 
13  isy 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

colloquial  fashion,  addresses  questions  to 
individuals  and  tries  by  patient  repetition 
to  show  the  love  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ. 
They  have  never  before  heard  anything 
like  this  ''  new  doctrine."  Frequently  they 
come  again  and  again,  and  in  some  cases 
the  missionary  will  see  a  genuine  interest 
shown.  Then  he  knows  there  will  be  con- 
verts. 

COUNTRY    WORK 

In  six  months  Mackenzie  began  giving  a 
little  address  in  Chinese  to  the  people.  He 
says :  * '  From  the  first  I  was  determined  to 
learn  Chinese.  There  is  no  work  so  useful 
as  that  of  the  medical  missionary,  but  he 
must  combine  the  cure  of  the  soul  with  the 
cure  of  the  body ;  otherwise  medical  missions 
are  little  more  than  benevolent  institutions." 

With  Mr.  Griffith  John,  who  had  first 
opened  up  work  in  Hankow,  he  went  out 
to  towns  and  villages  where  missionaries 
had  never  been.  Their  plan  was  to  go  to  a 
tea  shop,  where  Mr.  John  would  begin  to 
talk  to  the  people.  Soon  there  would  be  a 
great  crowd.  He  would  tell  them  that  his 
companion  was  a  doctor,  and  at  once  they 
would  rush  off  and  bring  all  the  sick  people 
in  the  place.     Every  sixth   case   would  be 

190 


John  Kenneth  Mackenzie 

eye  disease, with  occasionally  a  leper.  One 
result  of  these  visits  was  that  patients 
would  come  to  the  hospital  from  these  vil- 
lages, and  thus  the  teaching  could  be  fol- 
lowed up. 

PERSECUTION 

A  native  by  the  name  of  Wei,  coming  to 
Hankow  on  business,  was  converted,  and  in 
his  own  community  became  the  center  of  a 
little  Christian  group.  The  plan  was  to 
visit  his  village,  and  Wei  met  them  at  an 
appointed  place  to  conduct  them  thither. 
The  two  Englishmen  attracted  a  great  deal 
of  attention.  When  they  landed  from  the 
boat  several  hundred  men  and  boys  were 
assembled.  They  had  '*  no  leisure  so  much 
as  to  eat,"  and,  preaching  to  crowds,  they 
moved  on  to  the  next  town  ' '  with  almost 
the  whole  village  at  their  heels." 

Soon  the  behavior  of  the  people  began  to 
change.  From  being  curious  they  began  to 
be  rude,  and  then  to  shout,  ''  Go  back  to 
Hankow  and  preach  your  Jesus  there ;  you 
shall  not  come  here."  Then  they  threw 
hard  clods  at  the  missionaries  (fortunately 
there  were  no  stones),  and  the  missionaries 
found  themselves  the  center  of  a  howling 
mob  of  about  one  thousand  men  and  boys. 

191 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

Mackenzie  guarded  his  head  with  his 
hands,  but  Mr.  John  was  struck  in  the 
mouth  and  nearly  fainted  from  loss  of  blood. 
He  also  had  a  scalp  wound.  The  native 
Christians  behaved  nobly,  one  of  them  say- 
ing, ''  You  may  kill  me,  but  don't  kill  my 
pastor."  At  the  crossing  of  a  creek  the 
doctor  and  Mr.  John  fell  back  until  most 
had  gone  over  the  plank  bridge,  and  then 
broke  through  the  crowd  and  escaped.  A 
native  Christian  followed  them.  They 
were  wondering  where  they  could  find  shel- 
ter in  that  strange,  hostile  land.  The  na- 
tive Christian  beckoned  them  to  follow  him. 
He  took  them  to  a  house  whose  master  wel- 
comed them  and  told  them  he  feared  not  to 
take  them  in.  They  were  about  to  give 
their  names  when  he  interrupted  and  said 
he  had  been  a  patient  at  the  hospital  and 
knew  them.  He  then  prepared  a  delicious 
feast  for  these  battered  pilgrims,  who  had 
eaten  nothing  since  early  morning. 

When  they  departed  next  day  he  refused 
to  be  paid.  On  a  subsequent  visit  to  these 
villages  Mackenzie  said :  ' '  These  men  are 
athletic,  manly,  simple,  and  fearless.  We 
made  it  a  special  point  to  call  at  the  villages 
where  we  had  been  molested  and  preach 

192 


John  Kenneth  Mackenzie 

the  Gospel  of  peace  and  good  will  to  the 
inhabitants." 

This  work,  begun  amid  great  opposition 
and  danger,  has  been  greatly  successful. 
These  people  raised  money  among  them- 
selves and  built  two  chapels  in  this  very  dis- 
trict, and  now  every  year  new  houses  of 
worship  are  erected  there. 

CHINESE  MEDICINE 

Chinese  doctors  know  very  little  about 
anatomy  or  physiology.  They  attribute 
disease  to  the  ''  five  elements."  Most  won- 
derful hea-ling  properties  are  attributed  to 
dragons'  teeth,  fossils,  tigers*  bones.  Dr. 
Mackenzie  was  called  to  see  a  child  very 
sick  with  bronchitis.  She  was  being  fed 
on  the  stings  of  a  scorpion.  In  sickness 
idols,  astrologers,  and  fortune-tellers  are  con- 
sulted. The  priests  teach  that  disease  is  due 
to  the  anger  of  the  gods  or  to  a  visitation  of 
evil  spirits.  Charms  are  written  out  and 
pasted  around  the  sick  room.  Sometimes 
these  marvelous  bits  of  paper  are  burned 
and  the  patient  is  ordered  to  drink  the  ashes. 
Idolatrous  rites  are  performed  with  gongs 
and  firecrackers,  the  terrible  noise  being 
most  distressing    to    a   sick    person.     The 

193 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

Chinese  believe  that  a  spirit  can  wield 
greater  power  when  separated  from  the 
body;  from  this  comes  ancestral  worship. 
Persons  desiring  to  take  vengeance  upon 
their  enemies  will  often  commit  suicide  to 
obtain  their  end. 

One  day  a  young  man  came  to  the  dis- 
pensary with  a  large  wound  on  his  left  arm, 
evidently  caused  by  some  cutting  instru- 
ment. He  said  he  had  a  sick  father  who 
failed  to  respond  to  Chinese  treatment.  The 
relatives  decided  that  the  son  must  sacrifice 
his  own  flesh  to  save  his  father's  life.  A 
large  piece  of  flesh  was  cut  out  of  his  arm, 
cooked  into  a  savory  meal,  and  given  to  the 
patient.  He  died,  and  the  family  decided 
that  filial  piety  was  lacking  in  the  son,  as 
shown  in  the  fatal  effect  of  eating  his  flesh. 
The  poor  boy  not  only  had  a  bad  arm,  but 
was  also  condemned  and  an  outcast. 

If  the  child  of  a  rich  Chinaman  is  sick, 
the  priest  will  tell  them  that  some  ancestor 
is  suffering,  and  it  will  require  a  large  sum 
to  set  him  free.  After  this  has  been  paid 
the  priest  will  tell  them  that  the  ancestor  is 
still  in  agony,  and  as  much  more  must  be 
paid.  This  goes  on  till  the  priests  get  all 
they  possibly  can. 

194 


John  Kenneth  Mackenzie 

Mackenzie  was  called  to  a  case  of  typhoid 
fever.  The  native  doctor  had  been  treating 
the  woman  by  burning  her  body  with  in- 
cense. Her  body  was  covered  with  blisters 
and  scars. 

A  man  with  dyspepsia  was  treated  by  hav- 
ing six  needles  thrust  into  his  body  at  the 
pit  of  his  stomach. 

A  woman  with  asthma  had  her  back  beaten 
with  a  huge  club  to  give  her  relief.  Truly 
the  tender  mercies  of  the  heathen  are  cruel. 

As  the  fame  of  the  skillful  Western  phy- 
sician spread  it  was  no  unusual  thing  for 
him  to  be  called  to  bring  dead  people  to  life. 
On  one  occasion  a  man  brought  his  de- 
mented son  to  be  restored. 

OPIUM  PATIENTS 

In  one  year  the  doctor  treated  seven  hun- 
dred cases  of  opium  smoking.  He  says: 
''As  most  of  them  come  from  long  distances 
and  support  themselves  while  in  the  hos- 
pital we  feel  it  wrong  to  turn  them  away, 
since  they  carry  to  their  homes  a  knowl- 
edge of  Jesus.  I  always  tell  them  the  med- 
icine is  given  to  relieve  the  pain  and  crav- 
ing, and  that  they  must  pray  to  have  the 
desire    taken   from    their   hearts   and   new 

195 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

hearts  given  to  them.  We  cannot  know 
how  many  are  permanently  cured,  but  when 
this  question  is  asked  new  arrivals,  *  What 
brought  you  to  the  hospital  for  treatment?  ' 
the  almost  invariable  answer  is,  *  I  have 
friends  and  neighbors  who  have  been  cured 
here.'" 

MARRIAGE 

In  December,  1876,  the  lady  to  whom  Dr. 
Mackenzie  was  betrothed  came  from  Eng- 
land to  Shanghai, where  they  were  married. 
Mrs.  Mackenzie  entered  with  enthusiasm 
into  her  husband's  work.  He  wrote  to  his 
brother,  "We  are  now  established  in  our 
pretty  home,  which  looks  thoroughly  home- 
like and  comfortable,  thanks  to  Millie's  deft 
fingers." 

This  year  he  treated  over  a  thousand  per- 
sons in  the  wards  and  almost  twelve  thou- 
sand in  the  dispensary.  In  one  case  where 
he  saved  a  life  by  opening  the  windpipe 
and  inserting  a  silver  tube  great  interest 
was  manifested.  Soon  he  was  called  in  hot 
haste  to  a  similar  case,  and  was  requested  to 
bring  with  him  ' '  the  tube  for  making  two 
mouths!  " 

He  wrote  to  his  friends :  '  *  My  one  aim  is 
to  make  medicine  the  handmaid  of  the  Gos- 

196 


John  Kenneth  Mackenzie 

pel.  My  commission  is  the  Scripture  verse, 
*  And  he  sent  them  to  preach  the  kingdom 
of  God  and  to  heal  the  sick.'  '* 

In  October  Dr.  Mackenzie's  heart  was 
gladdened  by  the  birth  of  a  little  daughter, 
who  was  baptized  at  the  public  Chinese 
service  and  named  Margaret  Ethel. 

A    NEW    HOME 

When  Mackenzie  had  been  four  years 
abroad  he  felt  that  it  was  best  to  leave  the 
trying  climate  of  Hankow  and  go  farther 
north.  Amid  loving  farewells  he  left  for 
Tien-tsin,  his  new  field. 

He  says  concerning  traveling  by  carts: 
'  *  They  are  heavy,  ugly  contrivances,  so 
small  that  only  one  person  can  conveniently 
sit  or  lie  inside,  for  there  is  no  seat  except 
the  floor  of  the  cart.  Having  no  springs,  and 
the  road  being  frightfully  cut  up  with  ruts, 
the  jolting  is  simply  awful.  We  line  the 
interior  with  our  bedding  and  pillows,  but 
to  prevent  coming  in  contact  with  the  sides 
of  the  cart  you  have  to  seize  hold  of  the 
vehicle  itself.  The  soil  is  soft  and  full  of 
soda.  With  only  a  slight  wind  you  are  soon 
covered  with  dust,  which  penetrates  your 
mouth  and  nostrils.     In  wet  weather  you 

197 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

plow  through  mud,  getting  stuck  every  few 
minutes." 

POWER   OF    PRAYER 

When  he  reached  Tien-tsin  "there  was 
neither  money  nor  drugs  to  open  his  work, 
and  it  would  take  five  months  before  help 
could  come  from  the  home  Board.  It  was 
suggested  by  a  missionary  that  a  written  re- 
quest for  funds  be  sent  to  the  viceroy,  who 
was  Li  Hung  Chang,  the  famous  Chinese 
statesman,  setting  forth  the  advantage  of 
establishing  a  hospital  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Chinese. 

It  was  presented  through  the  consul,  but 
no  answer  came.  Two  months  passed,  and 
not  a  word  from  the  viceroy.  Meanwhile 
the  little  mission  circle  was  praying  might- 
ily that  the  viceroy's  heart  might  be  opened. 

On  August  I  the  prayer  meeting  subject 
was,  ''  Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given  you." 
That  very  day  a  member  of  the  English  le- 
gation noticed  the  sad  face  of  the  viceroy. 
On  inquiry  the  viceroy  said,  *'My  wife  is 
seriously  ill — dying.  The  doctors  told  me 
this  morning  that  she  cannot  live." 

*'  Why  don't  you  get  the  help  of  the  for- 
eign doctors  ?  "  asked  the  Englishman. 

The    viceroy  objected    that  it   would  be 

198 


John  Kenneth  Mackenzie 

quite  impossible  for  a  Chinese  lady  of  rank 
to  be  attended  by  a  foreigner,  but  soon  his 
common  sense  triumphed,  and  he  sent  for 
Dr.  Mackenzie  and  his  colleague. 

It  was  a  very  extraordinary  proceeding 
for  these  men  to  be  admitted  to  Lady  Li's 
sick  room.  When  they  returned  to  the  Mis- 
sion they  reported,  ''  She  is  very  sick;  we 
must  all  pray  for  her  recovery." 

They  attended  faithfully  and  saved  her 
life.  When  convalescent  Mackenzie  sug- 
gested that  Miss  Dr.  Howard,  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Mission  in  Peking,  be  sent  for. 
She  came  for  a  month's  stay,  and  the  result 
was  that  Lady  Li  established  a  woman's 
hospital  and  put  Miss  Howard  at  the  head. 

In  an  Eastern  city  if  a  great  ruler  takes 
you  by  the  hand  the  country  is  yours.  At 
once  Dr.  Mackenzie's  pathway  was  thronged 
with  suppliants  to  be  healed.  He  proposed 
that  the  viceroy  should  witness  a  surgical 
operation,  and  he  did  so,  showing  much  in- 
terest in  the  skill  and  ease  of  Western  sur- 
gery. 

The  viceroy  at  once  gave  one  of  his  rooms 
for  a  dispensary,  and  this  becoming  so 
thronged  as  to  impede  the  business  of  the 
court  his  excellency  set  aside  a  part  of  the 

199 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

temple,  one  of  the  finest  buildings  in  Tien- 
tsin, and  furnished  money  for  its  support. 
Dr.  Mackenzie  speaks  of  seeing  two  hun- 
dred patients  a  day. 

As  this  temple  hospital  was  three  miles 
from  the  Mission  compound  he  determined 
to  build  one  in  a  more  convenient  location. 
He  appealed  to  the  natives,  and  as  he  had 
several  rich  patients  he  refused  pay  from 
them,  and  instead  asked  for  subscriptions  to 
the  new  hospital.  He  received  gifts  of 
money  in  generous  measure.  The  hospital 
was  built,  and  publicly  opened  by  the  vice- 
roy amid  imposing  ceremonies,  at  which  the 
British  and  Russian  consuls  spoke. 

The  North  China  Daily  News  said  :  ' '  Unique 
interest  attaches  to  the  work  carried  on  by 
Dr.  Mackenzie  during  the  last  fifteen  months, 
seeing  that  all  the  funds  for  its  support 
have  been  derived  from  native  sources." 
*'  Whether  believers  in  Jesus  Christ  or  not," 
remarked  the  viceroy  on  one  occasion,  "  we 
are  all  of  one  mind  in  wishing  to  aid  in  the 
healing  of  the  sick." 

A  MORNING  IN  THE  HOSPITAL 

The  doctor  wrote  to  his  friends :  ' '  Let 
me  take  you  to  our  Chinese  hospital.     As- 

200 


John  Kenneth  Mackenzie 

cending  a  broad  flight  of  stone  steps  to  the 
veranda  we  pass  into  a  lofty  hall  and  enter 
the  waiting  room.  Benches  are  ranged 
down  the  whole  length  of  it,  and  at  both 
sides  texts  of  Scripture  in  Chinese  decorate 
the  walls.  The  hour  is  nine  o'clock  and  the 
gong  is  sounding  for  morning  prayers. 
Already  groups  of  men  are  collected  from 
the  city  and  villages  around  with  a  bundle 
of  bedding  by  their  sides.  TJiere  a  blind 
man  is  led  in,  here  comes  a  lame  man  on 
crutches.  Men  v/ith  enormous  tumors,  men 
feeble  from  dysentery  and  consumption  file 
in,  and  the  emaciated  opium  smoker  is  also 
there.  The  in-patients  who  are  sufficiently 
convalescent  come  trooping  in  with  their 
bandages  and  dressings  on. 

' '  The  Gospel  hymn  is  given  out  and  a 
portion  of  Scripture  read,  very  likely  a  case 
of  healing.  It  is  explained  and  lessons  are 
drawn  from  it.  The  patients  are  very  quiet 
and  attentive. 

' '  Then  the  medical  missionary  goes  to 
the  dispensary,  while  the  native  evangelist 
continues  to  talk  to  the  patients  as  they 
wait  for  their  turn.  One  by  one  the  patients 
come  into  the  dispensary.  First  a  case  of 
eye  disease.     The  patient  is  told  he  must 

201 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

become  an  in-patient  and  undergo  a  slight 
operation.  He  will  probably  start  back  in 
dismay  exclaiming,  '  Cut !      No,  never !  * 

*  *  I  call  an  assistant  to  lead  this  patient  to 
one  of  the  wards  to  rest  a  while.  There  he 
is  sure  to  meet  a  similar  case,  and  the  testi- 
mony of  his  own  countryman  brings  him 
back  to  the  dispensary  for  an  operation. 

'  *  An  official's  servant  appears  with  a  large 
red  piece  of  paper  in  his  hand.  It  is  his 
master's  visiting  card.  I  treated  the  gov- 
ernor of  this  province  for  bronchitis,  and 
when  he  came  to  pay  his  official  visit  his 
retinue  extended  a  hundred  yards  up  the 
street. 

*'  We  proceed  to  visit  the  wards.  Look 
at  that  man  sitting  on  his  bed,  with  his  bed- 
ding still  in  a  bundle  instead  of  being  com- 
fortably spread  out.  He  is  a  newcomer 
full  of  fears.  By  to-morrow  he  will  be  as 
jolly  as  his  bodily  ailment  will  allow.  By 
one  bedside  sits  the  native  evangelist  with 
his  open  Bible.  Portions  of  the  gospels  are 
scattered  about  the  wards,  and  as  I  go  from 
patient  to  patient,  dressing  wounds  and  at- 
tending to  their  wants,  I  question  them 
about  their  reading,  and  urge  them  to  bring 
their  sinsick  souls  to  the  great  Physician." 

202 


John  Kenneth  Mackenzie 

SURGICAL   WORK. 

Rewrote:  ''It  would  be  difficult  for  a 
medical  man  in  England  to  comprehend  my 
anxiety  over  serious  surgical  cases.  At 
home  consultants  are  called  in,  and  what- 
ever operation  is  undertaken,  whatever  the 
result,  it  is  accepted  that  the  best  thing  has 
been  done  for  the  patient.  Here  I  am  alone. 
The  Chinese,  though  they  see  a  man  very 
ill,  don't  realize  that  unless  operated  upon 
he  must  die.  If  he  should  die  after  the 
operation  they  would  spread  abroad  the 
news  that  the  operation  had  killed  him. 

'  *  Though  God  has  not  given  to  his  serv- 
ants miraculous  powers  of  healing,  yet  so 
greatly  has  he  enlightened  us  that  the  man 
fully  instructed  and  doing  his  work  in 
humble  dependence  upon  divine  help  will 
achieve  such  success  that  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Chinese  it  appears  to  be  well-nigh  miracu- 
lous." 

A    CHINESE    MEDICAL    SCHOOL 

A  delegation  of  young  Chinamen,  who 
had  been  sent  to  the  best  schools  and  col- 
leges of  America,  and  had  been  after  a  few 
years  recalled  to  China  because  it  was  feared 
they  would  become  Americanized,  attracted 

203 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

Mackenzie's  attention.  He  asked  that  eight 
of  these  young  men  be  given  him  to  be 
trained  in  medical  science.  He  wrote  con- 
cerning this  work : 

"  I  am  not  merely  training  surgeons  for 
the  Chinese  government.  This  is  a  rare  op- 
portunity to  influence  educated  young  men 
from  a  Christian  standpoint.  My  hands  are 
left  perfectly  free  by  the  viceroy,  and  the 
young  men  are  entirely  under  my  charge. 

' '  I  have  to  be  a  whole  medical  faculty  in 
myself,  and  it  sorely  taxes  my  time.  The 
more  I  know  of  the  Chinese,  especially  their 
educated  men,  the  more  I  feel  there  is  a 
mine  of  wealth  here." 

At  this  period  of  his  life,  when  Dr.  Mac- 
kenzie so  much  needed  the  comforts  of 
home  and  family,  his  wife's  health  failed 
and  she  was  obliged  to  go  to  England. 

A   CHINESE    DECORATION 

In  recognition  of  the  valuable  service 
rendered  to  the  students  of  the  medical 
school  the  Emperor  of  China  bestowed  on 
Dr.  Mackenzie  an  imperial  decoration.  It 
was  called  ' '  The  Star  of  the  Order  of  the 
Double  Dragon."  It  was  made  of  gold, 
with  a  precious  stone  in  blue,  corresponding 

204 


John  Kenneth  Mackenzie 

with  the  blue  buttons  worn  by  mandarins. 
The  doctor  wrote : 

*'  It  was  accompanied  by  an  embroidered 
ribbon  to  be  worn  with  it,  and  the  whole 
was  incased  in  an  ebony  cabinet  with  a  dis- 
patch to  explain  the  reason  of  the  gift.  It 
is  kindly  meant  and  a  gracious  gift,  and 
as  such  I  value  it.  In  Chinese  official  soci- 
ety, too,  it  gives  me  a  certain  rank  which  is 
not  to  be  despised  by  one  living  and  work- 
ing here." 

HARD    WORK 

His  work,  which  pressed  so  heavily 
in  many  different  departments— teaching, 
healing,  preaching — care  and  responsibility 
enough  for  ten  men, began  to  tell  upon  him 
physically.      He  says: 

"  I  no  longer  have  time  to  read  anything 
but  the  Bible.  The  verse,  '  In  nothing  be 
anxious,'  has  proven  a  great  comfort  both 
in  regard  to  family  sorrows  and  hospital 
cares,  for  with  so  many  patients,  and  most 
of  them  surgical  operations  of  the  greatest 
severity,  I  could  scarcely  have  borne  the 
strain. 

"  It  is  very  delightful  to  see  around  you 
spiritual  growth.  It  is  worth  suffering 
much  (though  I  have  no  cause  to  talk  of  suf- 

14  205 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

fering,  my  joy  has  been  so  full)  and  com- 
ing a  long  way  to  see  Chinamen  drink- 
ing in  the  living  water.  You  would  be 
interested  in  the  sight  going  on  in  the  hos- 
pital wards  nearly  every  afternoon — little 
groups  of  patients  gathered  round  one  or 
two  beds,  and  one  of  the  hospital  helpers 
busy  teaching  them.  It  is  wonderful  how 
God  has  used  this  medical  work  to  spread 
into  the  district  all  around  the  news  of  sal- 
vation. 

**  The  medical  missionary  has  this  great 
advantage  over  his  clerical  brother,  the 
people  seek  him,  he  has  not  to  trouble  about 
seeking  them.  As  in  our  Lord's  day,  they 
come  only  for  material  benefits. 

' '  There  are  many  depressing  influences 
in  our  medical  work.  A  visitor  once  said 
to  me: 

*'  '  How  can  you  spend  your  life  among 
these  dirty  wretches?  ' 

' '  We  have  to  work  with  imperfect  instru- 
ments in  the  shape  of  clumsy,  if  willing, 
men  in  place  of  the  intelligent  and  tender 
nurses  of  our  home  hospitals.  We  have  to 
put  up  with  ideas  of  cleanliness  different  from 
our  own.  To  counterbalance  this  we  need 
the  elevating  influence  of  service  for  God." 

206 


John  Kenneth  Mackenzie 


DEATH 

After  a  few  days'  illness  from  smallpox, 
contracted  from  his  patients,  Dr.  Mackenzie 
died.  A  few  hours  before  death  he  was 
told  he  was  better,  and  was  asked  if  that 
pleased  him.  He  answered,  **I  am  quite 
ready  whichever  way  it  is.  I  only  want 
the  Lord's  will  to  be  done.  It  would  be 
nice  to  stay  and  do  a  little  more  work,  if 
that  is  his  will." 

Very  early  in  the  morning  while  it  was 
yet  dark,  on  Easter  Day,  God's  finger 
touched  him  and  he  slept. 

From  the  viceroy's  palace  to  the  poorest 
hovel  there  was  sorrow  and  dismay. 

''How  can  the  sick  be  healed  now?" 
they  cried. 

'  *  There  will  never  be  such  another  physi- 
cian," they  said. 

''  I  never  thought  Chinamen  could  be  so 
affected,  "  said  one  who  knew  only  the 
stolid  side  of  their  natures. 

Chinamen  thronged  the  little  church  and 
cemetery,  the  viceroy  sending  two  high 
officials  to  represent  himself  and  Lady  Li. 
Thirty-six  different  men  were  bearers, 
changing  places  as  they  moved,  to  give  all 

20Y 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

who   requested   the    privilege  a  chance   to 
carry  the  body  a  little  way. 

The  large  congregation  sang  together  the 
beautiful  hymn, 

*'  Sleep  on,  beloved,  sleep  and  take  thy  rest, 
Lay  down  thy  head  upon  thy  Saviour's  breast ; 
We  love  thee  well,  but  Jesus  loves  thee  best. 
Good  night! " 

Very  tenderly  they  thought  of  the  wife 
and  child  and  old  father  in  the  home  land 
to  whom  the  sad  message  had  been  sent  the 
day  before. 

There  in  the  land  he  loved,  amid  the 
people  whom  he  served  so  well,  the  tired 
body  lies  sleeping. 

"  Until  the  Easter  glory  lights  the  skies, 
Until  the  dead  in  Jesus  shall  arise, 
And  he  shall  come,  but  not  in  lowly  guise. 
Good  night !  " 
208 


VI 
3ames  fH>.  tiboburn 

BY 

W.  F.  Oldham,  D.D. 


James  M.  Thoburn 


VI 
James  M.  Thoburn 

The  great  battles  of  Christianity  are  those 
fought  against  cultivated  and  literary  non- 
Christian  systems.  That  the  cannibal  sav- 
ages of  the  Pacific  or  some  of  the  wild  tribes 
of  Africa  should  quickly  yield  to  the  pres- 
ence of  the  missionary  and  the  preaching 
of  the  Gospel  is,  indeed,  matter  for  glad 
thanksgiving.  But  the  greater  triumphs  of 
the  cross  are  achieved  against  the  fortified 
systems  of  religious  error.  When  the 
powerful  and  polished  systems  of  the  Greeks 
and  the  religion  of  imperial  Rome  con- 
fronted the  early  Christian  Church,  and  with- 
out prestige  and  social  advantage  young 
Christianity  overcame  them  by  the  might  of 
her  moral  earnestness  and  the  fullness  of 
her  spiritual  life,  the  victory  was  greater 
and  more  wonderful  than  those  she  achieved 
later  through  her  dauntless  missionaries 
among  the  wild  Goths  and  savage  Teutons 
of  northern  Europe. 

Of  the  great  religious  systems  that  stand 

211 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

opposed  to  Christianity  to-day  Hinduism, 
with  a  following  of  about  two  hundred  mil- 
lions, is  among  the  most  numerous  and  is,  in 
many  regards,  the  most  difficult  to  attack. 
It  is  a  purely  ethnic  faith,  and  is  confined  to 
one  people.  These  are  the  inhabitants  of 
that  vast  and  populous  peninsula  of  southern 
Asia  known  as  India.  The  difficulties  pre- 
sented by  India  to  the  spread  of  the  Gospel 
are  many ;  some  are  common  to  all  oriental 
countries,  and  some  peculiar  to  this  land. 
Of  the  former,  perhaps  the  chief  are  the 
national  conservatism  and  dislike  for  inno- 
vation, particularly  for  imported  novelties  in 
religion,  the  moral  inertia  of  every  great 
mass  of  paganism,  and  the  utter  deadening 
of  the  conscience  by  centuries  of  gross  sin. 
Peculiar  to  India  are  the  difficulties  of  a  rigid 
caste  system,  which  destroys  individual 
liberty,  and  a  dreamy  pantheism,  which 
tends  to  confuse  the  moral  sense  and  almost 
destroys  conscience,  while  conservatism 
deepens  into  passionate  devotion  to  the  cus- 
toms of  the  past. 

This  vast  land,  thronging  with  people 
among  whom  the  ascendency  of  the  British 
government  gives  easy  access  and  perfect 
safety,  could  not  but  early  attract  the  atten- 

212 


James  M.  Thoburn 

tion  of  a  missionary-hearted  Church.  The 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  which  had 
spent  the  first  half  century  of  her  life  in 
laying  those  broad,  deep  foundations  in  the 
home  land  which  continue  to  make  her  the 
first  of  American  denominations,  had  al- 
ready sent  her  first  missionaries  to  Liberia  in 
1833,  and  to  China  in  1847,  when  the  ardent 
gaze  of  that  great  missionary  secretary.  Dr. 
Durbin,  was  attracted  to  India.  In  1852  it 
was  determined  to  open  a  mission  wherever 
on  the  broad  bosom  of  the  Indian  peninsula 
a  suitable  territory,  unoccupied  by  other 
missions,  could  be  found.  After  much  de- 
lay a  suitable  leader  was  found  in  William 
Butler,  7to)nen  prcuclartun  ct  vcncrabile,  of  the 
New  England  Conference.  He  was  a  man 
of  marked  and  varied  ability,  whom  time  has 
crowned  as  one  of  the  great  and  enduring 
names  of  the  Church,  and  to  whom  was 
given  the  added  honor  of  afterward  opening 
another  great  foreign  mission  field  of  the 
Church — Mexico. 

Dr.  Butler  reached  Calcutta  September 
25,  1856,  and,  in  consultation  with  the 
leaders  of  other  missions,  selected  as  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  mission  field  a  small 
territory  in  North  India.     A  little  later  this 

213 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

territory  was  somewhat  extended.  About 
twenty  years  from  then  it  was  found  that 
Methodism  could  not  be  contained  in  any 
narrow  limits;  and  now  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  is  coterminous  with  the 
Indian  empire,  and  has  gone  beyond  into  the 
island  region  of  Malaysia.  The  wisdom  of 
the  early  choice  of  territory  is,  however, 
demonstrated  by  the  abundant  fruitage  of 
the  missions  in  the  first  India  mission  field, 
where  to  this  day  more  than  one  half  of  all 
our  converts  are  found.  Scarcely  had  Dr. 
Butler  gotten  to  work  when  the  world  was 
startled  by  the  outburst  of  Mohammedan 
fanaticism  and  Hindu  bigotry  in  the  ' '  Indian 
mutiny."  The  thrilling  story  of  those  try- 
ing days,  the  narrow  escape  of  the  Butlers, 
and  the  heroic  martyrdoms  of  our  early 
MethodivSt  converts  is  told  in  that  mission- 
ary classic  which  ought  to  be  in  all  our 
libraries,  a  volume  more  fascinating  than 
any  romance — T/ie  Land  of  the  Veda,  by 
William  Butler. 

The  mutiny  deeply  stirred  the  Christian 
world,  and  on  the  restoration  of  order  the 
India  Mission  was  reinforced  by  two  mis- 
sionaries and  their  wives,  and,  in  the  fol- 
lowing year,  by  what  was  then  considered 

214 


James  M.  Thoburn 

a  large  party — six  men,  five  of  them  mar- 
ried and  accompanied  by  their  wives.  Of 
these  nine  male  pioneers  seven  remain  to 
this  day,  having  rendered  among  them  an 
aggregate  of  about  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years  of  missionary  service.  Drs.  Parker, 
Messmore,  Waugh,  and  Humphrey  are  still 
active  men,  and  Dr.  Baume  has  but  recently 
retired.  Their  leader,  William  Butler,  who 
lives  in  Newton  Center,  Mass.,  quietly  waits 
for  the  morning,  while  his  son,  the  Rev. 
John  W.  Butler,  happy  inheritor  of  his 
father's  ability  and  zeal,  builds  wisely  and 
well  the  nascent  Methodism  of  Mexico.  The 
record  is  unparalleled. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  sketch  to  narrate 
briefly  the  career  of  but  one  of  this  band  of 
pioneers — and  he  the  youngest — who,  in  the 
providence  of  God  and  by  the  appointment 
of  the  Church,  has  come  in  these  later  years 
to  the  leadership  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal forces  in  India  and  Malaysia.  In  any 
article  so  brief  as  this  must  be  but  scant 
attention  can  be  given  to  the  absorbingly 
interesting  fields  of  missionary  enterprise 
entered,  the  intricate  and  distracting  prob- 
lems faced,  and  the  wondrous  achievements 
accomplished,  in  the  face  of  the  most  for- 

215 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

midable  difficulties,  tinder  him  of  whom  we 
write.  Even  of  the  leader  himself  our  words 
must  be  few. 

James  Mills  Thoburn,  of  an  old  Irish 
family  of  Thorburns,  was  born  near  St. 
Clairsville,  O.,  in  March,  1836.  His  father 
was  a  small  farmer,  a  man  of  active  piety  and 
rare  good  sense ;  his  mother  was  a  woman 
of  extraordinary  parts  and  force  of  charac- 
ter. All  her  children  received  from  her 
such  inspiration  for  life  as  will  abide  for  all 
time.  The  family  consisted  of  five  boys, 
of  whom  James  was  the  youngest,  and  five 
girls.  Three  of  the  brothers  have  died — 
one  of  them  killed  in  battle ;  all  the  sisters, 
including  Isabella,  the  well-known  India 
missionary,  and  Mrs.  General  Cowen,  the 
equally  well-known  Woman's  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Secretary,  live  in  useful  service. 

Of  the  boy  James  the  record  among  his 
earliest  friends  is  that  he  was  a  lad  of  un- 
ceasing activity  and  of  kindly  nature.  The 
words  that  best  characterize  the  outstanding 
traits  of  his  boyhood  are  *'  mischief  and 
generosity."  The  overflowing  spirits  and 
incessant  movement  of  the  restless  boy  were 
always  condoned  by  the  fact  that  he  was 
ever  willing  to  suffer  for  others'  escapades. 

216 


James  M.  Thoburn 

When  he  was  but  fourteen  years  old  his 
father  died,  but  his  mother  determined  that 
nothing  should  interfere  with  the  lad's 
schooling.  Graduating  from  the  public 
schools  of  his  native  place,  he  entered  Al- 
legheny College,  at  Meadville,  Pa.,  greatly 
encouraged  by  the  prediction  of  his  neigh- 
bors that  so  mischievous  a  fellow  would  on 
leaving  home  surely  go  to  destruction.  His 
mother  knew  her  boy  better,  and  the  event 
proved  her  right.  Perhaps  his  neighbors* 
doleful  forecast  helped  to  put  the  young  man 
on  his  mettle. 

In  Allegheny  College  then,  as  now,  the 
spirit  of  earnest  Methodist  evangelism  was 
present.  The  glory  of  the  Christian  college 
is  that  it  ministers  to  the  religious  as  well 
as  the  mental  needs,  and  so  trains  for  time 
and  eternity.  Epworth  Leaguers  will  do  well 
to  note  that  the  schools  which  have  bred  the 
great  builders  of  the  kingdom  of  Jesus 
Christ  have  been  those  taught  by  God-fear- 
ing and  loving-hearted  men.  Allegheny 
College,  modest  and  unpretentious,  has  yet 
enrolled  a  noble  band  of  students  which  in- 
cludes such  names  as  Bishop  Kingsley, 
Senator  Allison,  Dr.  Long,  of  Roberts  Col- 
lege, Bishop  Thoburn,  President  McKinley, 

211 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

and  hundreds  of  other  worthies.  Here  at 
the  ''  Old  Brick  Church  "—hallowed  spot  in 
the  memory  of  hundreds  of  scarred  and 
grizzled  veterans  in  God's  army — James  M. 
Thoburn  was  soundly  converted  to  God. 

On  his  graduation  he  became  a  member 
of  the  Pittsburg  Conference,  which  then  in- 
cluded much  of  Ohio,  and  was  appointed  to 
a  circuit  in  what  is  now  in  the  territory  of 
the  East  Ohio  Conference,  and  included  the 
towns  of  Greentown  and  Marlboro.  Here 
the  young  preacher  on  one  hundred  dollars 
a  year  pursued  his  active  and  busy  life,  until 
with  deepening  consecration  to  his  Master's 
service  there  came  to  him  a  clear  call  to  leave 
home  and  kindred  and  turn  his  face  to  an 
unknown  land  in  a  far-off  region,  to  pro- 
claim among  the  Christless  millions  the 
grace  that  had  saved  him.  So  many  young 
Christians  are  solemnly  pondering  the  ques- 
tion of  a  call  to  foreign  mission  service  that 
it  might  be  well  to  quote  from  his  own 
words  at  a  later  date  the  personal  experience 
of  the  young  circuit  rider.  The  persuasion 
grew  upon  him  that  somehow  his  work  in 
Ohio  was  drawing  to  a  close.  **  How  this 
definite  and  disquieting  conviction  began  I 
cannot  tell.     I  never  could  recall  its  origin 

218 


James  M.  Thoburn 

or  tell  how  it  had  taken  possession  of  my 
mind.  I  only  knew  that  the  issue  must 
soon  be  decided  definitely  for  all  time  to 
come."  God's  calls  to  his  children  to  spe- 
cific enterprise  are  always  accompanied  by 
an  ''open  way"  along  which  to  walk  in 
answer  to  the  call.  In  a  broad,  general  way, 
it  might  be  said  the  voice  of  the  Church  is 
the  echo  of  the  voice  of  God,  and  one  attests 
to  any  hearer  the  message  of  the  other. 

At  this  time  appeared  in  The  Christian 
Advocate  the  "  call  for  six  missionaries"  to 
reinforce  the  India  Mission.  The  young 
preacher  read  it  with  burning  heart  and 
streaming  eyes,  and  immediately  gave  him- 
self in  humble  consecration  to  God  for  India. 
He  started  to  find  his  presiding  elder,  D. 
P.  Mitchell  (afterward  of  Kansas),  to  advise 
with  him ;  but  before  he  spoke  his  thoughts 
he  learned  that  the  elder  was  seeking  him 
with  a  commission  from  Bishop  Janes  for 
service  in  the  India  Mission.  The  offer 
was  immediately  accepted.  ' '  I  went  up  stairs 
to  the  little  prophet  chamber  and  knelt 
down  to  seek  for  guidance  from  above,  but 
I  could  not  pray.  God  poured  his  Spirit  upon 
me  from  on  high,  and  my  heart  so  over- 
flowed   with    a    hallowed    feeling   of    love 

219 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

and  joy  that  I  could  not  utter  a  word.  It 
was  not  so  much  a  call  to  India  that  I  re- 
ceived as  an  acceptance  for  India."  '*  That 
hour  stands  out  in  my  life  as  the  burning 
bush  must  have  stood  in  the  memory  of 
Moses."  Not  all  calls  to  foreign  service  are 
alike,  but  it  is  well  that  men  and  women 
called  to  most  arduous  and  difficult  enter- 
prise should  definitely  know  that  they  are 
commissioned  from  above  for  their  high 
tasks. 

One  more  quotation  from  the  missionary's 
experience  because  of  its  truth  and  pathos. 
The  entire  party  was  being  farewelled  in 
the  Lynn  Commons  Church,  in  Lynn,  Mass. 
''The  church  was  so  crowded  I  could  only 
get  room  to  stand  in  the  vestibule,  near  the 
door.  I  was  leaning  against  the  stairway 
listening  to  a  thousand  children  singing. 
Turning  to  a  stranger,  I  said,  '  What  sweet 
singing !  '  '  You'd  better  enjoy  it  all  you 
can,'  he  replied,  *  for  you  will  never  hear 
such  singing  again.'  The  words  dropped 
upon  my  heart  like  lead ;  my  unbelieving 
heart  did  not  then  dare  to  hope  that  in  other 
tongues  I  should  hear  the  vsongs  of  Zion 
warbled  by  the  glad  young  voices  of  thou- 
sands rescued  from  the  worship  of  idols,  and 

220 


James  M.  Thoburn 

that  the  praises  of  Christ  were  to  be  taken 
up  by  all  the  little  ones  of  earth." 

The  party  soon  after  sailed  for  India,  and 
after  one  hundred  da3^s  found  themselves  in 
the  Hooghly  River,  where  the  first  object 
that  impressed  them  was  the  massive  out- 
lines of  a  temple  of  Juggernaut.  India's 
gods  are  many.  Their  stories  and  their 
temples  fill  the  land.  A  perfect  saturnalia 
of  idolatry  possesses  the  whole  country. 
Under  every  tall  tree,  on  every  high  moun- 
tain, worship  is  continually  being  offered  to 
some  one  of  the  multiplied  millions  of  pol- 
luting gods.  Whatever  the  earliest  Hindu- 
ism may  have  been,  it  is  to-day  a  system  of 
unspeakable  grossness  in  many  of  its  teach- 
ings, and  its  gods  and  goddesses  reach  such 
depths  of  shameless  iniquity  as  cannot  but 
deprave  their  worshipers.  It  was  signifi- 
cant that  the  first  thing  to  attract  the  mis- 
sionary's gaze  was  the  temple  of  one  of  these 
many  gods  against  whom  he  was  to  exalt 
Jehovah  to  their  overthrowing. 

After  a  brief  council  in  Calcutta,  followed 
by  the  Annual  Meeting  in  Lucknow,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  Naini  Tal  to  begin  his  missionary 
labors.  The  location  of  this  station,  seven 
thousand   feet   above    sea   level,  the    little 

15  221 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

straggling  town  picturesquely  nestling  above 
a  beautiful  mountain  lake,  left  nothing  to 
be  desired  in  the  way  of  climate  or  scenic 
beauty.  Indeed,  it  is  a  great  mistake  to  sup- 
pose that  a  missionary's  deprivations  are  in 
these  matters.  God's  world  is  beautiful 
everywhere,  and  the  Church  does  not  will- 
ingly expose  its  servants  to  physical  hard- 
ships beyond  what  is  necessary  to  effective 
service.  The  great  trials  of  a  missionary's 
life  arise  from  the  loss  of  social  and  religious 
privileges.  To  live  in  the  shadow  of  a  solid 
wall  of  heathenism,  to  resist  the  chill  and 
moral  malaria  of  a  Christless  mass,  to  look 
into  a  thousand  faces  and  look  in  vain  for 
any  response  to  the  thoughts  that  fill  his 
own  soul,  to  receive  no  help  from  any  fel- 
low-worshiper— this  is  the  trial,  this  the 
deprivation  of  the  missionary.  But  none 
even  of  these  things  moved  the  ardent 
young  soul  who,  among  the  mountains  of 
India,  gave  himself  with  unwearying  fidelity 
to  the  building  of  the  kingdom.  While  the 
way  along  which  he  was  called  to  walk  was 
strange  and  unfamiliar,  one  presence  went 
with  him,  and  the  Christ  who  saved  him  in 
the  old  brick  church  in  Meadville  cheered 
the  heart  of  his  young  herald  as  he  moved 

222 


James  M.  Thoburn 

among  the  multitudes  of  the  untaught   in 
far-away  India. 

The  favorite  picture  before  the  eyes  of 
many  in  America,  as  in  imagination  they  see 
the  missionary  at  his  work  in  distant  lands, 
is  that  his  progress  is  marked  by  the  has- 
tening together  of  thousands  of  eager  hear- 
ers who  thirst  to  hear  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel,  and  that  the  missionary's  course  is 
marked  by  something  like  a  popular  ovation. 
Very  different  were  the  facts,  as  the  young 
preacher  discovered,  in  these  early  pioneer 
days.  Preaching  to  a  handful  of  white  sol- 
diers, stammering  in  broken  words,  eager 
to  tell  of  the  great  salvation  to  little  groups 
of  wondering  natives ;  the  teaching  of  a  few 
pupils  with  difficulty  persuaded  to  run  the 
risk  of  contamination  by  contact  with  a 
Christian;  little  humble  services  under  try- 
ing and  often  under  disappointing  circum- 
stances— these  were  the  early  experiences ; 
but  during  these  days  faith  deepened,  con- 
secration reached  new  depths,  and  data  for 
the  solution  of  a  hundred  future  problems 
was  being  stored  by  the  man  who  with  open 
eyes  and  with  teachable  spirit  and  quench- 
Icvss  ardor  was  building  even  then  better 
than  he  knew. 

223 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

He  now  took  avS  his  companion  the  widow 
of  his  fellow-missionary,  and  was  married  to 
Mrs.  Downey.  Their  married  life  was  brief, 
but  it  was  long  enough  to  teach  him  the  value 
of  woman's  work  among  women.  A  babe 
was  born.  He  is  now  the  Rev.  Crawford 
Thoburn,  the  talented  and  successful  presi- 
dent who  is  laying  the  foundations  of  a 
great  university  at  Tacoma,  Wash.  Four 
weeks  later  the  young  wife  and  mother  took 
her  flight  to  that  heaven  which,  thank  God, 
is  to  his  dear  children  as  near  India  as  any- 
where. Two  weeks  later  the  sad-hearted 
man  with  his  babe  and  a  young  mountain- 
eer convert,  whom  many  in  America  re- 
member as  Harkua  Wilson,  came  down  to 
Bareilly,  and  a  year  after  returned  to  his 
native  land  feeble  in  health  but  with  imper- 
ishable love  for  the  people  to  whose  evan- 
gelizing God  has  called  and  sealed  him. 

What  pen  can  picture  the  home-coming 
of  God's  anointed  servants?  To  look  once 
more  upon  the  face  of  mother  and  kinsfolk, 
to  strike  glad  hands  with  friends  and  old  ac- 
quaintances, to  be  in  the  life  of  Christendom, 
to  feel  the  throbbing  fervor  of  Christian 
communities,  to  move  where  Christ  is  known 
and  loved — this  itself  is  tonic  and  health. 

224 


James  M.  Thoburn 

Not  that  the  foreign  missionary  has  not  eyes 
to  see  the  defects  and  blots  upon  the  life  of 
the  home  land ;  he  is  often  its  most  faithful 
censor;  but  only  he  who  has  stood  amid 
the  moral  desolations  of  heathenism  in  un- 
speakable loneliness  of  spirit  can  quite  un- 
derstand what  Dr.  Duff  meant  when  he 
wrote,  "  It  will  be  to  me  for  rapture  of  joy 
to  throw  myself  upon  my  face  and  kiss  the 
heath  of  my  native  land." 

Young  Mr.  Thoburn  found  an  open  door 
awaiting  him  at  home.  At  Conference  ses- 
sions, at  camp  meetings,  in  many  of  the  first 
pulpits  of  the  land  the  returned  mission- 
ary's voice  was  heard,  and  wherever  he  spoke 
interest  was  aroused,  zeal  quickened,  and 
enlarged  gifts  flowed  into  the  treasury  of  the 
Society.  If  our  missionary  treasury  is  to- 
day below  the  requirements  of  our  world- 
wide missions,  if  something  of  debt  op- 
presses us,  and  if  retrenchment  in  the  very 
hour  of  marvelous  success  is  forced  upon 
our  remonstrating  missionaries,  there  are 
but  two  ways  to  mend  the  situation :  first, 
to  seek  a  deeper  consecration  in  carrying  out 
God's  program  on  earth,  ''  Go  ye  forth  and 
disciple  all  nations,"  and,  second,  to  get  more 
definitely  informed  concerning  the  religious 

225 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

destitution  of  the  larger  half  of  the  race.  A 
wider  use  of  our  returned  missionaries,  such 
a  use  of  the  men  as  the  women's  societies 
make  of  the  returned  women,  would  help  us 
much. 

After  a  longer  stay  than  he  desired 
James  Thoburn  returned  to  India.  In  his 
absence  the  Mission  had  been  visited  by  a 
Methodist  bishop,  the  first  to  administer 
the  Mission,  Edward  Thomson.  He  was  a 
man  of  rare  ability  and  such  singular  insight 
that  it  is  a  question  whether  any  Church 
official  ever  visited  a  foreign  land  who  saw 
so  easily  and  clearly  into  the  heart  of  vexed 
and  difficult  problems  as  he.  The  Mission 
was  organized  into  a  Conference  by  Bishop 
Thomson,  and  Missionary  Thoburn's  ap- 
pointment was  changed  to  Paori,  in  the 
mountains  of  Gurhwal,  eight  days'  journey 
from  Naini  Tal,  or  as  far  in  time  as  from 
New  York  to  Berlin.  On  his  way  to  his  ap- 
pointment, a  year  later,  he  preached  from 
place  to  place,  and  that  the  reader  may  catch 
a  glimpse  of  the  missionary  at  work  there  is 
subjoined  a  passage  from  his  own  pen : 

* '  We  found  ourselves  in  a  little  courtyard 
about  forty  feet  square,  with  a  small  banyan 
tree  in  its  center.  Three  small  houses  opened 

226 


James  M.  Thoburn 

into  it,  and  the  three  families  living  in  these 
houses  had  a  joint  interest  in  the  property. 
Under  the  banyan  tree,  on  a  small  earthen 
platform  about  twelve  inches  high,  was  a 
rude  private  shrine  for  the  use  of  the  own- 
ers. The  people  followed  us  into  the  court- 
yard and  filled  it  in  every  part,  while  others 
leaned  over  the  mud  wall  or  stood  outside, 
where  they  could  both  see  and  hear.  After 
singing  and  prayer  I  stood  on  the  mud  plat- 
form close  beside  the  gods  and  told  the 
people  about  Jesus  and  his  salvation.  They 
listened  with  eager  attention,  and  the  sight 
of  their  dusky  faces  upturned  in  the  bright 
moonlight  acted  like  an  inspiration  upon  me. 
The  idols  by  my  feet  gave  no  one  a  thought ; 
all  seemed  to  feel  that  a  new  message  from 
God  had  come  to  them,  and  as  I  glanced  up 
and  saw  the  bright  moonbeams  straggling 
down  through  the  thick  foliage  of  the  ban- 
yan tree  it  seemed  as  if  God's  everlasting 
light  was  shining  upon  us,  and  faith  rose  up 
in  new  strength  to  claim  an  assured  victory. 
We  prayed  that  night  that  God  would  give 
us  that  idol  shrine  and  all  the  souls  that 
bowed  down  to  those  images  of  stone  and 
clay,  and  lay  down  to  sleep  in  thankfulness 
and  hope.     I  shall  never  forget  the  luxury 

22V 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

of  preaching  I  enjoyed  that  night.  It  was 
an  unmixed  joy  to  preach  in  such  a  place  to 
such  a  people  with  such  a  hope.  .  .  .  Very 
soon  after  Brother  Mansell  baptized  the  man 
who  had  invited  us  to  hold  the  meeting  in 
his  courtyard,  .  .  .  and  a  small  room  which 
opened  into  the  square  w^as  fitted  up  as  a 
chapel."  Out  of  hours  like  these  are  born 
the  tidal  waves  that  are  to  sweep  the  nations 
into  the  Church  of  God.  Two  years  of  labo- 
rious but  successful  activity  saw  the  planting 
of  many  Christian  enterprises  in  Gurhwal. 

Meanwhile  the  w^hole  India  Conference 
was  strengthening  its  foundations,  and  much 
of  the  preparatory  work  of  organization  was 
being  done.  Foundation  laying  attracts  but 
little  attention,  and  yet  the  stability  of  the 
future  structure  lies  here.  Much  of  the  wider 
success  of  these  later  years  must  be  attrib- 
uted to  the  beginnings  so  carefully  nursed 
in  that  earlier  time.  It  was  a  day  of  small 
things.  But  faithfulness  and  ardor  and  con- 
fident trust  in  God  soon  bring  larger  things, 
and  so  the  India  Conference  was  to  prove. 
In  1869  the  Conference  appointment  read, 
'^Moradabad  District,  J.  M.Thoburn,  P.E.  ;" 
and  in  the  following  year  Bishop  Kingsley 
transferred  him  to  the  eldership  of  Lucknow 


James  M.  Thoburn 

District,  perhaps  the  most  responsible  posi- 
tion of  the  Methodist  Church  in  India. 

Meanwhile,  without  design,  he  had  helped 
in  a  transaction  which  was  fraught  with  un- 
told good  to  Eastern  lands  and  to  the  Church 
at  large.  Some  time  before  he  had  written 
his  sister  Isabella  in  her  Ohio  home  to  join 
him  as  a  missionary  helper.  She  forthwith 
consented.  Mrs.  Parker  and  seven  other 
ladies  about  this  time  met  in  Tremont 
Street  Church,  in  Boston,  and  organized  the 
Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  One  of  the 
first  two  ladies  to  embark  for  India,  under  the 
auspices  of  this  Society,  was  Miss  Thoburn. 
Her  work  has  been  no  whit  behind  that  of 
hei  distinguished  brother,  and  the  help  con- 
veyed to  the  darkened  nations  of  the  world 
by  the  ministry  of  earnest-minded  and  de- 
voted women  deserves  to  be  told  in  a  sepa- 
rate article  by  some  facile  pen  in  fingers 
urged  by  a  heart  throbbing  with  intelligent 
gratitude  to  God,  who  discovered  to  the 
Church  this  mighty  source  of  new  power. 

While  at  Lucknow,  where  Dr.  Thoburn 
was  joined  by  his  sister,  another  event  hap- 
pened, fraught  likewise  with  largest  bless- 
ing to  India  and  Indian  Methodism.     This 

229 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

was  the  invitation  extended  by  the  Metho- 
dist missionaries  to  William  Taylor,  the 
World  Evangelist.  He  had  been  greatly 
used  of  God  among  the  pagan  tribes  of 
Africa,  his  ministry  had  been  blessed  to 
thousands  in  America  and  Australia.  The 
India  missionaries,  longing  to  see  some  de- 
cided break  in  the  mighty  masses  around 
them,  sent  to  Taylor,  asking  for  his  pres- 
ence, and  prayed  God  to  bless  his  com- 
ing. The  evangelist  came.  The  word  was 
with  power  in  Lucknow,  in  Cawnpore,  in 
other  places.  But  it  was  the  nominally 
Christian  world  that  was  moved.  The 
''raw  heathen  "  did  not  seem  to  respond. 
A  few  notable  conversions  occurred,  but  in 
almost  every  case  it  was  among  those  who 
had  already  formally  joined  the  Christian 
camp. 

Devoutly  waiting  upon  God  for  further 
leading,  William  Taylor  found  himself  in 
Bombay,  where  he  saw  many  English- 
speaking  people,  Europeans,  Eurasians,  and 
natives,  soundly  converted  to  God.  There 
was  no  Methodist  church,  English  or  Ameri- 
can, in  Bombay.  The  territory  lay  hun- 
dreds of  miles  outside  the  bounds  of  the 
India    Conference.       The    missionary   au- 

230 


James  M.  Thoburn 

thorities  were  thousands  of  miles  away ;  be- 
sides, Taylor  jealously  maintained  the  fact 
that  he  was  not  the  agent  of  any  society, 
but  a  servant  of  the  Lord,  belonging  to  the 
Methodist  Church.  He  had  already  con- 
ceived the  project  of  using  the  scattered 
English  people  as  a  base  of  operations 
among  the  natives  who  were  outpoured 
around  them.  From  the  beginning  our 
missionaries  had  served  English  congrega- 
tions within  their  borders.  The  religious 
life  of  bands  of  nominal  Christians  living 
in  the  sight  of  the  heathen  world  must  al- 
ways be  a  matter  for  deepest  concern  to  the 
missionary.  Bishop  Walden,  on  his  return 
from  China  and  Japan,  in  his  most  intelli- 
gent survey  of  the  situation  urges  the  open- 
ing now  of  churches  among  the  English- 
speaking  foreigners  along  the  coasts  of 
eastern  Asia.  The  godlessness  of  Euro- 
peans scattered  among  non-Christian  Asi- 
atics is  one  of  the  capital  hindrances  to  the 
spread  of  the  Gospel.  William  Taylor's 
thought  was  to  turn  this  obstacle  into  a 
help  by  the  active  evangelization  of  these 
nominal  Christians. 

There  was  supposed  to  be  a  tacit   agree- 
ment that  the  American   Methodists  wxre 

231 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

to  be  confined  to  the  territory  occupied  by 
their  India  Conference.  He  was  not  to  be 
deterred,  however,  by  any  vsuch  compacts, 
real  or  implied ;  so  he  went  forward  boldly 
and  organized  a  Methodist  Episcopal  church, 
first  in  Bombay,  and  later  in  other  points  as 
far  apart  as  Madras  and  Calcutta,  the  oppo- 
site ends  of  India.  The  most  difiicult  of 
these  enterprises  was  that  in  Calcutta,  where 
the  dauntless  man-,  with  scarcely  a  friend  to 
begin  with,  sang  and  prayed  and  preached 
his  way  into  the  hearts  of  a  considerable 
following,  whom  he  formally  organized  and 
established  in  a  plain,  commodious  church 
building.  These  scattered  congregations 
were  afterward  organized  by  Bishop  Harris, 
in  1873,  into  the  India  Mission,  and  later,  in 
1876,  by  Bishop  Andrews,  into  the  South 
India  Conference,  although  part  of  its  terri- 
tory lay  hundreds  of  miles  north  of  the  old 
"  India  Conference,"  which  was  now  named 
the  *'  North  India  Conference." 

William  Taylor's  plan  for  India's  evan- 
gelization has  never  in  any  sense  wholly 
succeeded.  There  are  many  reasons  which, 
had  he  known  India  better,  would  have 
warned  him  that  no  single  plan  can  be  re- 
lied on  to  Christianize  so  vast  a  mass  with  a 

232 


James  M.  Thoburn 

comparative  handful  of  migratory  English- 
men. The  English  and  their  descendants 
in  India  are  so  constantly  on  the  move  that 
our  churches  lose  twenty  per  cent  of  their 
membership  yearly  by  removals.  A  very 
large  proportion  of  the  membership,  too, 
has  but  the  smallest  acquaintance  with  the 
vernacular.  But  while  it  were  vain  to  rely 
wholly  upon  such  a  shifting  and  unsatisfac- 
tory basis  as  the  only  means  for  reaching 
so  vast  and  well-organized  a  heathen  sys- 
tem, the  splendid  heroism  and  self-sacrifi- 
cing spirit  of  the  Taylor  movement  helped 
to  put  iron  into  the  blood  of  the  young 
Methodist  Church,  and  more  accent  was 
put  everywhere  upon  self-support,  and 
wider  use  has  everywhere  been  made  of 
scattered  English  communities  since  his 
day.  Above  all,  his  scattered  churches 
committed  us  to  the  evangelization  of  all 
India,  and  Methodism  must  now  do  her  full 
share  in  the  salvation  of  a  widespread  and 
multitudinous  nation. 

While  Taylor  was  planting  these  churches 
and  elaborating  and  illustrating  his  theory 
of  ''  self-support  "  in  the  South  India  Con- 
ference God  was  strangely  preparing  Tho- 
burn to  succeed  Taylor  and  to  conserve   his 

233 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

work  by  gradually  methodizing  it,  and  by 
eventually  coordinating  it  with  the  existing 
Methodist  missions.  It  was  he  who  was 
largely  to  evolve  from  these  a  united  Metho- 
dism which  holds  all  that  is  good  in  both  the 
methods,  the  ''regular  society"  and  the 
*  'self-support"  methods.  The  friction  that  at 
one  time  threatened  to  divide  India  Metho- 
dism into  two  camps  has  entirely  passed 
away,  and  the  man  who  more  than  any  other 
has  brought  about  the  present  compacted 
and  aggressively  militant  Methodism  of 
India,  north  and  south,  east  and  west,  was 
peculiarly  fitted  for  the  task.  As  Presiding 
Elder  of  Oudh  District  he  gave  up  his  Mis- 
sionary Society  salary  because  it  seemed  to 
him  better  when  dealing  with  questions  of 
wages  among  the  native  preachers  to  him- 
vself  rely  on  the  local  resources.  But  he 
had  no  word  nor  thought  of  reproach  against 
his  brethren.  He  refused  to  make  it  a 
party  cry,  but  trusted  the  missionaries  who 
'disagreed  with  him  in  policy  and  worked 
heartily  with  them.  Presently  Taylor  would 
be  gone.  Philip-like,  the  Spirit  would  carry 
him  to  a  distant  shore.  Among  his  own 
men  there  were  none  who  either  had  large 
experience  or   had   risen   to  anything  like 

234 


James  M.  Thoburn 

marked  leadership.  The  movement  was 
but  four  years  old  in  the  oldest  church,  and 
the  men  were  young  and  inexperienced. 
Who  should  lead  this  scattered,  zealous, 
enthusiastic,  but  inexperienced  band  ? 

Bishop  Harris  selected  Dr.  Thoburn  from 
the  North  India  Conference  for  the 
manning  of  Calcutta,  the  most  important 
point,  perhaps,  in  the  Taylor  work.  Here 
the  work  was  first  to  develop  the  English 
church  and  from  this  base  to  engage  so  far 
in  the  evangelizing  of  the  great  city  of 
nearly  a  million  of  people,  speaking  a  Babel 
of  languages,  as  strength  and  skill  and 
resources  would  permit.  The  English  con- 
gregation increased  so  rapidly  that  it  soon 
became  necessary  to  erect  a  larger  building, 
which  is  among  the  largest  Christian  audi- 
toriums in  India.  So  high  did  the  enthusi- 
asm run  that  on  the  day  of  dedication  the 
congregation  raised  thirty-six  thousand 
rupees,  while  in  the  evening  twenty  peni- 
tents bowed  at  the  altar  as  the  sign  of  the 
divine  presence  and  approval.  From  the 
English-speaking,  the  revival  spread  among 
the  Bengalis,  and  before  long  a  strong  native 
church  grew  up,  and  in  connection  with 
these  two  congregations  all  manner  of  mis- 

235 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

sionary  activities  were  projected  whereby 
Dr.  Thoburn's  name  became  a  household 
word  among  all  classes  of  the  people  in 
India's  chief  governmental  city. 

Nor  were  his  activities  confined  to  Cal- 
cutta. The  whole  Bengal- Bombay  Mission 
felt  his  presence,  and  his  long  years  of  ex- 
perience in  the  India  Mission,  his  clear  in- 
sight into  the  difficulties  that  beset  the  new 
work,  his  splendid  constructive  ability,  which 
was  able  to  suggest  such  modifications  of 
the  Discipline  and  such  departures  as  the 
circumstances  called  for,  all  combined  to 
make  him  easily  the  leader  of  Indian 
Methodism  and  its  trusted  representative  in 
the  councils  of  the  Church.  He  was  ac- 
cordingly elected  to  the  General  Conference 
of  1876,  and  while  there  secured  the  recog- 
nition of  the  Bengal-Bombay  Mission  as  a 
prospective  Annual  Conference. 

On  his  return  from  America  he  immedi- 
ately resumed  charge  of  the  work  in  Cal- 
cutta with  the  presiding  eldership  of  the 
district.  Now  it  was  that  the  great  Cal- 
cutta church  was  dedicated  free  of  debt, 
and  all  India  felt  that  a  vigorous  type  of 
evangelical  religion  which  ministered  to  all 
people  in  various  languages  had  come  into 

236 


James  M.  Thoburn 

the  main  cities  to  be  supported  largely  from 
local  resources.  From  his  Calcutta  pulpit 
as  a  place  of  power  Dr.  Thoburn  projected 
schools  and  new  mission  stations  and  many- 
forms  of  evangelical  aggression.  Loved 
and  trusted  by  a  multitude  of  many  denomi- 
nations, he  was  intrusted  with  means  to  do 
good  by  all  manner  of  people,  and  was  at 
once  one  of  the  most  useful  and  most  hard- 
worked  men  in  India. 

But  even  this  wide  field  did  not  absorb  all 
his  energies.  Across  the  Bay  of  Bengal 
from  Calcutta  lies  Burmah,  Adoniram  Jud- 
son's  field!  Methodists  from  India  were 
constantly  going  and  coming  to  and  from 
Burmah.  From  the  great  city  of  Rangoon 
came  urgent  cry  for  help.  With  scarcely 
enough  money  to  pay  their  passages.  Dr. 
Thoburn  and  R.  E.  Carter  entered  Ran- 
goon, and  proceeded  at  once  to  preach  and 
lay  the  foundations  of  a  Methodist  mission 
to  supplement  the  work  of  our  Baptist 
friends  among  eight  millions  of  people.  It 
Avill  now  be  generally  conceded  that  the 
coming  of  the  Methodists  to  Burmah  has 
quickened  all  existing  missionary  enterprise 
and  has  given  the  cause  of  Christ  marked 
impetus. 

16  237 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

In  nothing,  perhaps,  has  the  constructive 
ability  and  clear  statesmanship  of  Dr.  Tho- 
burn  served  the  Church  better  than  in  the 
part  he  has  taken  in  outlining  on  the  field 
and  securing  in  the  home  councils  such 
modifications  and  readjustments  of  our  dis- 
ciplinary provisions  as  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances of  a  far-away  land  call  for.  The 
flexibility  of  our  polity  and  the  hospitable 
temper  of  the  home  authorities,  too,  has  been 
as  frequently  illustrated  by  the  readiness  to 
suffer  these  changes  when  their  reason  was 
made  clear.  The  presence  of  Dr.  Thoburn 
in  the  General  Conferences  since  1876  has 
been  invaluable  in  this  connection.  Mild- 
tempered,  gentle,  but  shrewd  and  of  keen- 
est insight,  never  engaging  in  unnecessary 
debate,  and  always  speaking  with  that  inner 
glow  that  comes  from  intense  conviction,  he 
rarely  fails  to  carry  his  point.  He  has  thus 
secured  invaluable  legislative  concessions 
for  the  mission  fields.  His  deep  anxiety  for 
the  progress  of  the  work  in  his  own  field 
may  seem  sometimes  to  have  blunted  his 
perception  of  the  claims  of  others,  but  those 
who  know  him  best  know  that  Dr.  Thoburn 
is  a  wide-eyed,  catholic-spirited  man,  who 
rejoices  with  a  full  heart  in  all  the  triumphs 

238 


James  M.  Thoburn 

of  the  Redeemer,  wherever  won.  And  if, 
in  his  splendid  enthusiasm,  he  sometimes 
betrays  a  touch  of  impatience  at  what  seems 
to  him  the  laggard  movement  of  the  Church 
of  his  love,  let  it  be  remembered  that  his 
great  Master  once  cried  to  the  disciples  of 
his  day,  '' O,  slow  of  heart  to  believe!" 
To  one  who  sees  the  largest  conquests  just 
ahead,  who  has  already  entered  into  the 
beginnings  of  victory,  the  comparative 
apathy  and  dullness  of  the  great  army 
seems  at  times  almost  incredible.  Shall 
we  wonder  if  sometimes  he  comes  near 
losing  patience?  Were  it  not  better  we 
should  quicken  our  steps?  Leaguers,  for- 
ward !  The  great  generals  at  the  front  of 
the  army  call  for  quickened  pace  in  the 
storming  of  the  strongholds  of  paganism. 
Men  and  supplies  to  the  front !  The  flag 
of  Jesus  is  presently  to  wave  on  the  dis- 
mantled ramparts  already  closely  invested. 

In  1884  Dr.  Thoburn  found  in  Kingston, 
O.,  a  gracious  lady,  a  graduate  in  medicine, 
Miss  Anna  Jones,  who  consented  to  become 
his  partner  in  toil  and  triumph.  Mrs.  Tho- 
burn proves  to  be  a  lady  of  rare  gifts  of 
mind  and  heart. 

In    1885    Malaysia,   an   island   empire  of 

239 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

forty  millions  of  people,  was  opened  by  Dr. 
Thoburn  to  Methodist  missionary  effort, 
and  one  of  the  most  successful  of  our  young 
missions  was  planted  there.  Meanwhile 
there  had  grown  up  throughout  our  wide- 
extended  India  missions,  whose  greatest 
length  is  now  close  to  four  thousand  miles, 
a  firm  conviction  that  they  needed  the  con- 
stant presence  of  a  bishop.  Much  as  they 
valued  the  annual  visits  of  the  general  su- 
perintendents, they  felt  that  the  incoming 
of  a  new  man  every  year,  who  stayed  w^ith 
them  but  three  months,  did  not  give  them 
the  close  and  continuous  superintendency 
needed  to  unify  and  coordinate  their  wide- 
spread movements.  In  the  General  Confer- 
ence of  1888  this  matter  came  to  a  focus, 
and  it  was  determined  by  that  body  to  ap- 
point a  '*  Missionary  Bishop  for  India  and 
Malaysia."  There  was  but  one  name  se- 
riously considered.  Dr.  Thoburn  was 
elected  and  consecrated  as  the  diocesan  of 
this  vast  domain.  How  magnificently  he 
has  administered  his  trust,  how  grandly 
God's  work  has  gone  forward  among  that 
noble  band  of  missionaries  whose  trusted 
friend  and  leader  he  is,  a  very  brief  recapit- 
ulation of  the  India  statistics  will  show. 

240 


James  M.  Thoburn 

The  most  marked  and  continuous  revival 
of  religion  on  the  face  of  the  earth  to-day 
is  among  our  humble  brethren  in  India. 
Read  the  figures.  In  1888  there  were  two 
Conferences  and  one  Mission ;  there  are 
now  five  Annual  Conferences  and  one  Mis- 
sion Conference. 

Sunday  Schools.  Scholars.  Day  Schools.  Scholars 

1888 703     27,000      545  14,000 

1892 .  1,376     50,000     1,039  29,000 

1896 2,249     72,000     1,297  30,000 

The  membership  has  increased  from 
24,000  to  84,000,  while  the  Christian  com- 
munity during  the  eight  years  has  increased 
at  the  rate  of  a  thousand  a  month  !  The 
Ep worth  League,  recently  introduced,  al- 
ready numbers  140  chapters  with  7,000 
members,  and  elicits  from  Bishop  Thoburn 
the  remark,  ''  The  success  of  the  Epworth 
League  in  India  has  from  the  first  been 
surprising. "  The  number  of  workers  under 
appointment  has  reached  the  astonishing 
figure  of  3,000,  of  whom  but  a  handful  are 
foreign  missionaries.  Great  urgency  is 
being  put  upon  the  development  of  "self- 
support,"  and  quaintly  interesting  and 
deeply  pathetic  are  the  reports  of  the  dis- 
trict meetings  on  "  self-support  day,"  when 

241 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

htimble  men  and  women,  who  but  recently 
were  idol  worshipers,  bring  the  produce  of 
the  field  and  barnyard,  and  even  the  scant 
savings  from  their  meager  daily  meals,  to 
make  possible  among  them  and  their  hea- 
then neighbors  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ.  The  whole  land  is  deeply 
moved.  Amid  the  din  of  contending  voices, 
the  decay  of  ancient  religions,  the  collapse 
of  hoary  and  oppressive  systems,  there  rises 
among  the  multitudinous  and  polyglot  peo- 
ple of  India  the  outlines  of  the  cross  and 
the  form  of  One  who  is  set  forth  as  * '  evi- 
dently crucified  "  for  them.  From  his  pale 
lips  they  hear  the  cry,  "  Come  unto  me,  all 
ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,"  and 
poor,  religiously  heavy  laden,  but  deep- 
hearted  India  hears  her  Saviour's  call  and 
hastens  to  lay  at  the  foot  of  the  cross  the 
burden  she  has  borne  for  centuries.  Mar- 
shaling the  hosts  of  Methodism,  leading  in 
the  very  van  of  the  movement  for  the  re- 
demption of  this  land,  is  the  brave-hearted, 
enthusiastic,  keen-eyed,  wholly  devoted 
man  whom  God  in  his  providence  has 
raised  up  to  be  the  Francis  Asbury  of  India 
— James  M.  Thoburn,  Bishop  of  India  and 
Malaysia. 

242 


vn 

fIDar?  IReeb 

BY 

Miss  Mary  Louise  Ninde 


'*  Measure  thy  life  by  loss  instead  of  gain ; 
Not  by  the  wine  drunk,  btit  the  wine  poured  forth ; 
For  love's  strength  standeth  in  love's  sacrifice, 
And  whoso  suffers  most  hath  most  to  give/' 

-Ugo  Bassi, 


Mary  Reed 


VII 
Mary  Reed 

In  northern  India,  where  the  snow-clad 
Himalayas  look  down  in  solemn  grandeur 
upon  the  smiling-  valley  at  their  feet,  and 
far  removed  from  the   blighting  heat  and 
turmoil  of  the  plains,  stands  a  modest  little 
home.     The  early  morning  beams  gild  the 
tiled    roof  and   the   afternoon  sun  lingers 
lovingly  on  the  whitewashed  walls   ere   it 
sinks  to  rest  behind  the  ''  everlasting  hills." 
In  this  secluded  retreat  dwells  a  sweet-faced 
young  woman,  with  abundant  brown  hair 
combed  back  from  a  peaceful  brow,  and  ten- 
der eyes  that  sometimes  turn  a  little  wist- 
fully  toward  the    crimsoned  West,    where 
thousands  of  miles  away  lies  the  land  of  her 
birth,  whose  shores  her  feet  will  never  tread 
again.       "Set    apart"    by    her    heavenly 
Father  for  a  special  work,  she  daily  min- 
isters to  the   forsaken  and  suffering   ones, 
whose    piteous   cries  for   help  were  never 
unheeded   by    the  Master  when  on    earth. 
The  influence  of  a  consecrated,  heroic  life 


245 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

is  not  bounded  by  ocean  or  continent,  and 
wherever,  the  world  over,  the  story  of  Mary 
Reed  is  known  faith  grows  stronger  and 
the  hearts  of  men  and  women  are  made 
purer  and  better. 

Miss  Reed  was  born  in  Ohio,  in  a  little  town 
bearing  the  curious  name  of  '  'Crooked  Tree." 
She  was  converted  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  and 
early  received  her  call  to  be  a  missionary. 
In  1884  she  sailed  for  India,  under  the  aus- 
pices of  the  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary 
Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  was  appointed  to  Cawnpore.  This  old 
Mogul  city,  situated  on  the  western  bank  of 
the  Ganges,  is  one  of  our  most  important 
centers  of  work.  It  was  occupied  during 
the  early  days  of  the  Mission,  and  Bishop 
Thoburn  refers  to  his  experience  in  crossing 
the  river  and  entering  this  new  field  as 
*'  crossing  the  Indian  Rubicon,"  so  signifi- 
cant a  move  was  it  felt  to  be.  Cawnpore 
was  the  scene  of  terrible  carnage  during  the 
Sepoy  rebellion,  and  one  of  the  most  sadly 
interesting  spots  in  the  city  is  the  historic 
well,  now  covered  by  a  marble  shrine,  sur- 
mounted by  a  statue  of  the  Angel  of  Peace, 
where  the  bodies  of  the  two  hundred  women 
and  children,  so  cruelly  murdered  by  the 

246 


Mary  Reed 

Sepoys,  were  thrown.  Miss  Reed  was  put 
in  charge  of  the  zenana  work  in  this  place. 
''  Zenana  "  is  a  Persian  word,  and  signifies 
the  part  of  the  house  reserved  for  the 
women.  It  is  only  by  house-to-house  visit- 
ation that  the  native  women  can  be  reached, 
vsince  they  are  kept  in  strict  seclusion, 
except  those  of  the  very  lowest  class. 

How  well  I  remember  my  first  visit  to 
Cawnpore!  It  was  a  busy  time,  for  Miss 
Reed,  filled  herself  with  a  consuming  zeal 
for  the  work,  was  eager  that  I  should  see  and 
learn  as  much  of  it  as  possible  during  my  brief 
stay.  I  never  grew  tired  of  accompanying 
her  on  her  daily  round  of  calls  at  the  homes 
of  the  people.  We  usually  set  out  about  ten 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  in  the  zenana  ghariy 
an  oblong,  boxlike  vehicle,  with  shutters  at 
the  sides  to  exclude  the  sun,  which  even  in 
winter  must  be  carefully  avoided  by  Euro- 
peans. Driving  through  the  city  till  the 
streets  became  too  narrow  to  proceed  fur- 
ther, we  would  alight  and  slowly  edge  our 
way  on  foot  among  the  jostling  crowds  to 
our  first  zenana.  Up  dark  flights  of  stairs 
to  stifling,  uninviting  chambers ;  into  inner 
courts,  damp  and  chilly,  generally  reached 
by  passing  through  the  stable  among  the 

247 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

oxen  and  buffalo;  sometimes  in  homes  of 
wealth,  but  oftenest  in  those  of  extreme  pov- 
erty ;  usually  received  gladly,  but  occasion- 
ally met  with  averted  glances  and  a  drawing 
away  from  contact  with  our  clothes,  or  even 
the  polluting  influence  of  our  shadow,  on  we 
went,  from  zenana  to  zenana.  Seated  at  Miss 
Reed's  side  on  a  low  bed  of  woven  rope,  the 
best  substitute  for  chairs  most  of  the  houses 
afforded,  I  was  a  sympathetic  listener  while 
she  sang  and  talked  to  the  group  of  dark- 
eyed  women  and  children  gathered  around 
us  on  the  floor.  Patiently  she  answered 
their  childish  little  questions,  and  again  and 
again  drew  back  their  wandering  attention 
to  the  simple  Gospel  truths  she  was  so  ear- 
nestly trying  to  impress  on  their  minds. 
We  had  no  support  for  our  backs,  and  I 
often  tried  to  rest  by  leaning  first  on  one 
hand  and  then  the  other.  But  Miss  Reed 
vseemed  utterly  oblivious  to  personal  discom- 
fort and  fatigue,  and  only  the  increasing  pal- 
lor of  her  face,  as  the  hours  wore  on,  con- 
vinced me  that  she  also  was  succumbing  to 
the  weariness  she  was  too  absorbed  to  heed. 
At  two  o'clock  we  returned  home.  After 
lunch  it  was  always  necessary  for  Miss  Reed 
to  hurry  away  to  write  letters,  to  plan  the 

248 


Mary  Reed 

next  day's  work,  to  receive  native  callers, 
and  to  look  after  the  affairs  of  the  home,  for 
she  was  a  model  housekeeper  and  kept 
everything  under  her  careful  supervision. 
''  Do  you  never  rest?"  I  asked  her  once. 
''  I  seldom  have  time,"  she  replied,  brightly, 
and  truly  she  impressed  me  as  one  whose  in- 
most soul  was  imbued  with  the  thought  that 
''the  King's  business  requires  haste."  It 
was  her  habit  each  morning  to  meet  with 
the  native  Bible  women  who  assisted  her  in 
zenana  visiting  for  an  hour  of  Scripture 
study  and  prayer.  One  of  the  sweetest  pic- 
tures I  carry  in  my  memory  is  that  of  this 
faithful  missionary  sitting  in  the  midst  of 
the  Christian  Hindus  at  her  feet,  their  dark, 
upturned  faces  framed  in  clean  white  chud- 
dars, instructing  them  concerning  the  things 
of  the  kingdom  and  then  sending  them 
out,  two  and  two,  to  sow  the  seed,  as  the 
seventy  went  forth  of  old. 

Several  times  a  week  Miss  Reed  visited 
the  ghats.  This  was  a  feature  of  her  work 
in  which  I  became  greatly  interested.  The 
ghats  are  the  stone  steps  on  the  banks  of 
the  Ganges  which  are  built  for  the  accom- 
modation of  the  Hindus,  who  flock  in 
crowds  to  the  river  early  every  morning  to 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

bathe  in  its  sacred  waters.  As  this  is  a 
privilege  in  which  the  women  share,  the 
missionary  who  visits  the  ghats  not  only 
has  an  opportunity  to  meet  a  large  number 
of  women  at  one  time,  but  to  talk  to  many 
of  the  higher  castes  who  are  too  bigoted  to 
receive  her  into  their  homes.  In  the  dim 
light  of  a  December  morning,  when  the 
bells  in  the  Hindu  temples  began  to  ring, 
Miss  Reed  and  I  roused  from  sleep  and 
wended  our  way  to  the  river.  On  drawing 
near  to  it  what  a  scene  met  our  eyes !  The 
ghats  where  the  women  congregate  were 
thronged  with  worshipers.  Their  rainbow- 
tinted  draperies  made  brilliant  patches  of 
color  against  the  gray  sky  and  the  yellow 
water  of  the  Ganges.  The  noisy  clamor  of 
voices  was  almost  deafening.  Some  women 
had  just  arrived,  closely  veiled,  and  were 
chattering  volubly  while  they  removed  their 
outer  coverings.  Others,  who  had  finished 
their  bath,  were  slowly  ascending  the  steps, 
shivering  in  the  cool  air  and  carrying  a 
small  brass  cup  containing  Ganges  water, 
which  was  to  be  taken  home  and  placed  be- 
fore the  household  gods.  Still  others  were 
seated  on  the  wet  flagging  at  the  top  of  the 
stairs,  busily  engaged,  by  the  aid  of  a  tiny 

250 


Mary  Reed 

mirror,  in  painting  the  marks  on  their  fore- 
heads which  would  show  they  had  per- 
formed the  required  ablutions  for  that  day. 
Hundreds  of  women  were  in  the  water,  all 
praying  aloud,  though  no  two  in  unison, 
now  gathering  the  water  up  in  the  palm  of 
their  hands  and  offering  it  to  the  sun,  and 
now  circling  around  or  breathing  heavily  to 
frighten  away  the  demons  which  are  sup- 
posed to  haunt  them  even  in  this  sacred 
place.  Miss  Reed  took  her  stand  where 
the  crowd  was  the  thickest  and  began  sing- 
ing a  bhajan — one  of  the  native  airs  set  to 
Christian  words  which  the  people  like  so 
well.  At  once  the  attention  of  the  women 
was  arrested,  and  many  stopped  to  listen. 
As  soon  as  they  were  quiet  Miss  Reed  ex- 
plained the  meaning  of  the  words  of  the 
hymn,  which  told  the  story  of  ''  Jesus  and 
his  love."  But  some  laughed  and  turned 
away.  Others  became  angry  and  retorted 
rudely.  A  few  appeared  thoughtful  and 
touched.  When  her  audience  had  scat- 
tered Miss  Reed  commenced  singing  again. 
To  all  who  would  receive  it  she  gave  Chris- 
tian literature — tracts  and  small  portions 
of  the  gospels.  It  was  indeed  scattering 
the  seed  broadcast,  and  only  the  all-seeing 

251 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

Father  knows  whether  any  took  root  and 
brought  forth  fruit. 

I  was  very  anxious  to  visit  Benares,  the 
sacred  city  of  the  Hindus,  and  as  I  had 
no  traveling  companion  Miss  Reed  kindly 
agreed  to  go  with  me.  I  think  at  that  time 
she  had  never  seen  Benares  herself.  The 
busy  life  of  a  missionary  affords  little  op- 
portunity for  sight-seeing.  Benares  is  the 
Mecca  of  the  Hindus.  From  all  parts  of 
India  innumerable  pilgrims  find  their  way 
there  every  year,  multitudes  making  the 
journey  on  foot,  many  even  measuring  the 
distance  with  their  bodies  by  lying  on  their 
faces  and  stretching  out  their  hands,  then 
rising  and  placing  their  toes  where  their 
fingers  reached,  and  thus  proceeding  for 
weary  miles.  By  this  meritorious  act  they 
hope  to  win  the  especial  favor  of  the  gods. 
Benares  is  on  the  Ganges  some  distance  be- 
low Cawnpore.  The  morning  after  our  ar- 
rival Miss  Reed  and  I  took  a  boat  and  sailed 
up  and  down  the  river  in  front  of  the  city. 
The  banks  were  lined  with  temples  and  pal- 
aces and  presented  a  striking  and  pictur- 
esque appearance.  Thousands  of  worship- 
ers, men,  women,  and  children,  thronged 
the  ghats   and   made   turbulent   the  water 

252 


Mary  Reed 

around  them.  At  one  point  on  the  shore  a 
column  of  smoke  rising  into  the  air  showed 
us  where  the  Hindus  were  burning  their 
dead,  for  they  never  bury  them,  though  the 
ashes  are  afterward  gathered  up  and  thrown 
into  the  Ganges.  The  fire  at  the  "  Burning 
Ghats,"  as  this  place  is  called,  never  goes 
out.  Here  and  there  along  the  shore  we 
could  discern  a  dying  man  lying  on  the 
ground,  watched  over  by  an  attendant,  prob- 
ably some  near  relative,  who  had  brought 
him  here,  it  may  be,  from  a  great  distance, 
that  he  might  breathe  his  last  on  conse- 
crated soil  and  with  his  feet  dipped  in  the 
waters  of  the  sacred  river.  iVfter  death,  in- 
stead of  being  burned,  the  bodies  of  these 
men  are  often  floated  out  on  the  sacred 
stream,  soon,  however,  to  be  seized  by  a  croc- 
odile and  quickly  borne  out  of  sight.  After 
leaving  the  river  Miss  Reed  and  I  roamed 
through  the  city,  visiting  only  the  most 
celebrated  shrines  and  temples — for  their 
number  is  legion,  mingling  with  the  pil- 
grims in  the  crowded  byways,  and  confront- 
ing heathenism  in  its  most  heart-sickening 
aspects  at  every  turn.  We  saw  the  famous 
monkey  temple,  where  hundreds  of  chatter- 
ing little  creatures  were  scampering  about 

17  253 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

their  beautiful  home,  making  grimaces  at 
the  worshipers  and  evidently  leading  a  very 
happy  life.  We  tiptoed  our  way  through 
the  mud  and  slush  around  the  sacred  ''  Well 
of  Knowledge  "  and  peered  down  into  its 
forbidding  depths.  Its  waters  are  believed 
to  be  peculiarly  efficacious  in  cleansing  from 
sin,  but  the  rank  odor  arising  from  the  de- 
caying flowers  thrown  into  the  well  by 
countless  devotees  made  us  glad  to  turn 
away.  In  the  temple  of  Shiva  we  witnessed 
a  characteristic  act  of  worship.  A  very  aged 
woman,  whose  gray  locks,  shorn  close  to  her 
head,  told  the  sad  story  of  widowhood,  went 
to  one  of  the  silky-skinned  cows  wandering 
over  the  marble  pavement  of  the  outer  court, 
and,  placing  a  wreath  of  flowers  around  its 
neck,  kissed  its  forehead;  then,  kneeling 
before  it,  w^hile  the  tears  trickled  down  her 
cheeks,  she  bowed  her  face  to  the  ground 
many  times.  How  we  longed  to  tell  her  of 
Jesus,  the  burden -bearer,  at  whose  feet  she 
could  find  peace  and  comfort  for  her  troubled 
heart !  Miss  Reed  only  stayed  a  day  and  a 
half  in  Benares.  The  sights  we  witnessed 
seemed  to  awake  in  her  a  new  and  almost 
overwhelming  sense  of  her  responsibility 
as  a  messenger  of  light  to  these  sin-dark- 

254 


Mary  Reed 

ened  people :  so,  leaving  me  in  the  home 
of  a  Wesleyan  missionary  for  a  few  days 
longer,  she  hastened  back  to  her  work  in 
Cawnpore. 

After  five  years  of  exhausting  labor  in 
India  Miss  Reed  returned  to  America  much 
broken  in  health.  It  was  during  this  period 
of  rest  in  the  home  land  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  revealed  to  her  the  special  work  to 
which  the  remainder  of  her  life  was  to  be 
consecrated.  The  surgeon  selects  with  in- 
finite care  the  instruments  which  are  to  be 
used  in  the  most  critical  operations.  Is  it 
not  ever  thus  with  the  great  Physician? 
As  Mary  Reed  was  obedient  to  her  Lord's 
first  call,  so  now  in  the  time  of  this  crucial 
test  she  did  not  waver,  but  replied,  with 
childlike  trust  and  triumphant  faith,  ''  Here 
am  I;  send  me."  Our  hearts  were  torn 
with  anguish  when  we  saw  her  enter  the 
garden  with  the  Master,  but  she  gloried  in 
her  high  privilege  and  followed  him  gladly. 

For  some  time  Miss  Reed  had  been 
troubled  by  a  stinging  pain  in  the  forefinger 
of  her  right  hand.  A  curious  spot  also  ap- 
peared on  her  cheek,  low  down  near  the 
ear.  One  day  a  voice  vseemed  to  whisper 
to  her,  ' '  You  have  leprosy ;    you  must  go 

255 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

back  to  India  and  devote  the  rest  of  your 
life  to  work  among  the  lepers."  From  that 
moment  she  never  felt  any  doubt  as  to  the 
true  nature  of  her  disease.  Her  physician 
reluctantly  admitted  that  her  diagnosis 
seemed  correct,  and  sent  her  to  an  eminent 
specialist  in  New  York,  who  confirmed  her 
opinion  of  the  case.  Later  two  noted  physi- 
cians in  London,  and  also  one  in  Bombay, 
were  consulted  with  the  same  result.  It 
will  probably  always  remain  a  mystery  how 
Miss  Reed  contracted  leprosy,  as  it  is  not 
known  that  she  was  ever  exposed  to  it  in 
any  way.  She  herself  simply  explains  it 
as  a  providential  visitation,  the  seal  of  her 
divine  appointment  to  work  among  the 
lepers,  and  very  beautifully  quotes : 

"  No  chance  has  brought  this  ill  to  me ; 
'Tis  God's  sweet  will,  so  let  it  be ; 
He  seeth  what  I  cannot  see. 

"  There  is  a  need  be  for  each  pain  ; 
And  he  will  make  it  one  day  plain 
That  earthly  loss  is  heavenly  gain." 

As  soon  as  the  necessary  preparations  could 
be  made  Miss  Reed  bade  good-bye  to  home 
and  loved  ones  and  hurried  back  to  India, 
crossing  to  England  in  the  same  steamer 
which  carried  the  Epworth  League  pilgrims 

256 


Mary  Reed 

to  the  Old  World  in  the  summer  of  189 1.  I 
shall  never  forget  the  autumn  evening  when 
the  news  first  reached  me  which  fell  with 
such  crushing  weight  on  so  many  hearts.  It 
came  in  a  letter  from  Mrs.  Cowen,  of  Cin- 
cinnati, a  sister  of  Bishop  Thoburn,  and 
one  whom  Miss  Reed  affectionately  calls 
"  My  Missionary  Mother."  Almost  the  first 
words  my  eyes  fell  upon  were  the  appalling 
ones,  "Mary  Reed  is  a  leper!  "  iVfter  a 
little  while  I  read  on  through  blinding  tears, 
' '  Pray  for  her  mother ;  she  has  just  learned 
the  sad  news ;  Mary  did  not  tell  her  wdien 
she  went  away ;  s/ie  did  not  even  kiss  Jier 
good-bye!  "  I  could  not  sleep  that  night.  I 
am  sure  there  were  many  who  did  not  sleep 
when  that  awful  word  was  brought  to  them . 
I  thought  of  the  mother  in  her  heart- 
breaking sorrow,  who  could  never  hope  to 
see  her  daughter's  face  again  on  earth. 
Then  I  thought  of  the  daughter,  devoted, 
heroic,  journeying  for  the  last  time  toward 
the  far-aw^ay  East.  How  vividly  the  days 
spent  with  her  in  India  came  back  to  m.e ! 
One  experience  especially  stood  out  in  my 
memory.  During  a  second  visit  I  made  to 
Cawnpore  I  attended  a  Christmas  celebra- 
tion   for  the  lepers.     About   five  hundred 

257 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

were  gathered  on  a  grassy  common  in  a  re- 
tired quarter  of  the  city — poor  mutilated 
creatures,  in  all  stages  of  the  disease.  It 
was  a  pathetic  sight  to  see  them  crouched  on 
the  ground,  listening  with  eager  interest 
while  the  missionaries  sang  and  prayed  and 
then  told  how  Jesus  healed  the  lepers  of  old 
and  how  he  still  loves  them,  and  though  he 
may  not  now  work  a  miracle  and  cure  their 
bodies  he  will  enter  their  hearts,  if  they 
will  but  let  him,  and  make  them  clean  and 
whole.  At  the  close  of  the  exercises  each 
leper  was  given  a  warm  blanket  and  a  hand- 
ful of  salt.  On  account  of  its  high  price  in 
North  India  salt  is  a  luxury  with  the  poor 
people.  Miss  Reed  and  I  stood  side  by  side 
and  looked  pityingly  on  while  the  lepers 
filed  slowly  past  us  to  receive  their  gifts. 
Many  whose  feet  were  reduced  to  mere 
stumps  walked  with  the  greatest  difficulty. 
As  each  poor  sufferer  in  turn  came  to  the 
front  the  missionary  in  charge  threw  a 
blanket  across  his  shoulders — for  in  most 
cases  his  hands  were  too  maimed  to  hold  it — 
and  then  made  a  bag  in  a  corner  of  his  out- 
side garment  in  which  the  salt  was  poured. 
I  well  remember  what  a  relief  it  was  to  me 
that  day  to  return  to  Miss  Reed's  cheerful 

258 


Mary  Reed 

home  and  try  to  shut  out  from  my  mind 
for  a  while  the  saddening  and  loathsome 
sights  of  the  morning. 

During  the  long  hours  of  that  sleepless 
night  I  also  lived  over  again  the  week  I 
spent  in  Moradabad  at  the  time  the  North 
India  Conference  was  in  session.  What  a 
happy  home-gathering  that  Conference  was ! 
And  with  what  joyful  anticipation  the  mis- 
sionaries told  me  they  had  looked  forward 
to  it  the  whole  year  through,  especially  those 
in  the  outlying  stations !  Only  a  missionary 
knows  the  longing  of  the  heart  for  compan- 
ionship in  a  pagan  land.  And  must  Miss 
Reed  henceforth  be  denied  all  these  sweet 
comforts  ?  I  asked  myself.  May  she  never 
again  join  her  colaborers  in  the  Confer- 
ence prayer  meeting?  Never  again  feel 
their  arms  thrown  around  her  in  loving 
embrace  ?  Never  even  sit  down  to  eat  with 
them  at  the  same  table?  O  the  unutter- 
able loneliness  of  such  a  life !  Can  she  en- 
dure it? 

But  in  the  meantime  how  tenderly  was 
the  loving  Father  guarding  and  guiding  his 
child!  In  London  she  became  acquainted 
with  an  American  lady  from  New  England, 
with  whom  she  traveled  across  the  Conti- 

259 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

nent.      This  friend  describes  most   touch- 
ingly  the  days  they  spent  together:^ 

' '  I  wondered  instinctively  at  the  ivory  pal- 
lor of  that  sweet  face  and  at  the  cruel  spot 
that  disfigured  it,  so  different  from  anything 
I  had  ever  seen.  I  wondered,  too,  as  the  days 
went  by,  why  the  forefinger,  always  covered 
with  a  white  cot,  refused  to  yield  to  healing 
remedies.  I  was  not  surprised  when  she 
asked  permission  to  accompany  us  on  our 
journey  southward,  which  for  the  Master's 
sake  was  readily  granted,  although  we  did 
not  think  she  was  able  to  travel  rapidly  from 
place  to  place.  Tears  were  in  her  eyes 
when  she  came  to  my  room  for  the  answer, 
and  she  said,  '  I  think  God  has  sent  you 
here  in  answer  to  my  prayers.'  Then  she 
told  me  how  with  unwavering  faith  she  had 
prayed  and  waited  many  days  for  some  one 
to  come  with  whom  she  could  travel  a  part 
of  her  long  overland  journey  to  Brindisi, 
where  she  was  to  meet  the  steamer  for 
India.  Sympathy  grew  between  us,  and 
thouofh  the  sipiis  of  some  dread  disease 
were  ever  present  to  my  eyes  my  lips  were 

*  From  An  Evening   with  Alary  Reed.     This   is  a  com- 
plete   missionary    program,    admirably    adapted   for   use   by 
Epworth  I^eac![iies.     Price,  15  cents.     Address    Miss    Pauline 
J.  Waltlen,  36  Bromfield  Street,  Boston,  Mass. 
260 


Mary  Reed 

silent.  As  I  came  to  know  her  better,  I 
found  that  her  heart  craved  companionship. 
Under  the  smiling  English  skies  of  Can- 
terbury we  walked  up  to  St.  Martin's,  the 
little  church  whose  memories  go  back  at 
least  thirteen  hundred  years.  Near  the 
chancel  the  English  lassie  who  guided  us 
stopped  and,  pointing  to  an  opening  in  the 
thick  wall,  said,  '  That  is  the  leper's 
squint,'  The  poor  sufferers,  creeping  to 
the  sanctuary  in  olden  times,  might  only 
listen  from  without  to  the  words  of  life. 
Eloquent  though  mute  are  such  barriers 
raised  and  maintained  between  life  and 
death !  If  I  had  known  then  what  I  knew 
afterward  my  heart  would  have  bled  for 
the  woman  at  my  side.  Calmly  she  stood 
there  before  us  with  a  heavenly  light  in  her 
eyes,  not  a  muscle  of  her  face  betraying  her 
heart's  secret.  In  the  grand  old  cathedral 
we  paused  before  the  stone  staircase  lead- 
ing to  a  Becket's  shrine,  and  gazed  long  at 
the  hollows  worn  by  the  kneeling,  praying 
pilgrims.  SJie  was  making  that  journey, 
so  full  of  pleasure  to  us,  literally  on  her 
knees,  sustained  and  comforted  by  the  power  of 
prayer. 

Here    and    there    we    held    sweet    hours 

201 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

of  communion,  and  I,  who  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  see  missionaries  seeking  America 
when  in  her  feeble  condition,  could  not  re- 
frain from  asking  if  it  was  right  for  her  to 
return  to  India  at  an  unfavorable  season, 
before  her  health  was  established.  Her 
lips  quivered,  but  her  gentle  pleading  voice 
grew  steady  as  she  replied,  *  My  Father 
knows  the  way  I  go,  and  I  am  sure  it  is  the 
right  way;'  and  at  another  time  she  said, 
*  I  am  returning  to  India  under  conditions 
in  which  no  other  missionary  ever  returned.' 
' '  It  was  in  Paris  that  she  sang  to  me  the 
hymns  she  loved  so  well,  those  song-prayers 
that  must  have  ascended  like  incense  to  the 
ear  of  her  Father.  It  was  in  Paris  that  she 
said  one  evening,  '  If  I  thought  it  was 
right,  and  you  would  promise  never  to  speak 
of  it  until  you  heard  it  in  some  other  way, 
I  should  tell  you  my  story.'  I  told  her  if 
aught  in  me  inspired  confidence  that  was 
the  surest  safeguard  of  her  secret.  On 
memory's  walls  there  will  hang  while  time 
lasts  for  me  the  picture  of  that  scene.  A 
wax  taper  burned  dimly  on  the  table  beside 
her  open  Bible,  that  book  of  all  books  from 
whose  pages  she  received  daily  consolation ; 
and  while  without  Paris   was  turning  night 


Mary  Reed 

to  day  with  light  and  music  and  wine, 
within,  Mary  Reed's  gentle  voice,  faltering 
only  at  her  mother's  name  and  coming  sor- 
row, told  the  secret  of  her  affliction.  As 
my  throbbing  heart  caught  its  first  glimpse 
of  her  meaning  I  covered  my  face  to  shut 
out  the  swiftly  rising  vision  of  her  future 
even  to  the  bitter  end,  and  almost  in  agony 
I  cried  out,  '  O,  not  that !  do  not  tell  me 
that  has  come  to  you."  And  when  in 
calmer  moments  I  said  that  all  Christians 
ought  to  unite  in  prayer  for  her  recovery 
her  only  response  was,  '  I  have  not  yet 
received  any  assurance  of  healing ;  perhaps 
I  can  serve  my  Father  better  thus.' 

**  I  come  with  sorrow  to  my  last  evening 
with  Miss  Reed.  I  sat  in  the  shadow  and 
she  where  the  full  moon,  rising  over  the 
snowy  mountains,  just  touched  with  a  glory 
that  loved  to  linger  her  pale,  sweet  face. 
Again  I  hear  her  voice  in  song : 

'  Straight  to  my  home  above 

I  travel  calmly  on  ; 
And  sing,  in  life  or  death, 

My  Lord,  thy  will  be  done.' 

And  with  the  anticipation  of  our  parting 
on  the  morrow  she  told  me  of  her  last 
hours  in  her  Western  home,  of  her  father's 

263 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

farewell  breathed  out  in  his  morning  prayer, 
telling  the  All-Father  and  the  heart  of  his 
daughter  the  sorrow  that  for  her  sake  should 
be  repressed ;  how,  upheld  by  a  strength 
not  her  own,  she  went  out  as  if  some  day 
she  might  return,  and  then  hastened  on  to 
the  land  of  her  exile.  On  the  shores  of 
Lake  Lucerne  hand  clasped  hand  for  the 
last  time  on  earth,  and,  with  eyes  blinded  by 
gathering  tears,  our  farewell  was  whispered, 
'  God  be  with  you  till  we  meet  again.'  " 
From  the  earliest  times  India  has  been 
peculiarly  subject  to  leprosy.  The  last  of- 
ficial report  gives  the  number  of  lepers  in 
the  country  as  one  hundred  and  thirty-one 
thousand  six  hundred  and  eighteen.  No 
cure  has  been  fotmd  for  this  dreaded  dis- 
ease, though  certain  medicines  are  known 
to  retard  and  even  in  some  cases  to  arrest 
its  progress.  Medical  authorities  differ 
widely  as  to  the  danger  from  contagion. 
BivShop  Thoburn  says :  ' '  There  are  sev- 
eral varieties  of  lepro.sy,  and  none  of  them 
are  at  all  contagious  unless  the  skin  is 
broken,  which  is  not  always  the  case,  or 
when  broken  the  affected  part  is  brought 
into  contact  with  a  cut  or  abrasion  of  some 
kind   on    the    skin    of    a   healthy   person. 

264 


Mary  Reed 

Those  of  us  who  have  lived  long  in  India 
have  practically  ceased  to  be  afraid  of  the 
lepers."  Still,  the  English  government  has 
increasingly  felt  the  wisdom  of  segregating 
the  lepers  as  a  precautionary  measure,  and 
only  the  expense  involved  has  delayed  the 
work  so  long.  There  are  a  few  asylums, 
but  their  number  is  wholly  inadequate  to 
the  needs.  The  only  missionary  society 
that  works  exclusively  among  this  neglected 
class,  though  largely  through  the  medium 
'of  existing  agencies,  is  a  vScotch  and  Irish 
organization  called  the  *'  Mission  to  Lepers 
in  India  and  the  East."  One  of  its  asylums 
is  at  Chandag  Heights,  among  the  Hima- 
laya Mountains,  and  is  reached  from  the 
railway  terminus  at  the  base  of  the  foothills 
by  a  nine  days'  journey  on  horseback,  or  in 
a  dandi  carried  on  the  shoulders  of  natives. 
Miss  Reed,  on  arriving  in  India,  went  at 
once  to  the  north,  and  was  made  superin- 
tendent of  this  asylum.  The  society  with 
which  she  thus  became  providentially  con- 
nected, though  still  receiving  her  own  sup- 
port from  America,  writes  of  her  as  follows 
in  one  of  their  reports:  "  Most  deeply  pa- 
thetic is  the  story  of  how  our  staff  of 
workers    among    the    lepers    has   been    so 

2G5 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

strangely  reinforced  by  the  addition  of  a 
lady  missionary  of  one  of  the  American  so- 
cieties, who  has  contracted  the  disease  in 
the  course  of  her  work  in  India.  The  com- 
mittee lias  appointed  her  an  agent  in  one  of 
our  asylums,  as  it  is  her  earnest  wish  to 
spend  her  remaining  strength  in  this  special 
work  to  which  she  has  been  so  mysteriously 
consecrated." 

Miss  Reed's  home  at  Chandag  is  in  the 
midst  of  ideal  scenery,  which  I  will  let  her 
describe  in  her  own  glowing  words:  "  The 
mountains  inclose  a  lovely  valley,  called 
Shor,  like  a  massive  and  exquisitely  beauti- 
ful frame  around  a  magnificent  picture. 
My  home  is  on  the  crest  of  the  range  which 
forms  the  western  boundary  of  the  valley, 
or  the  left  side  of  the  picture  frame.  And 
the  picture !  A  rich  and  beautiful  valley, 
containing  six  square  miles,  lies  more  than 
one  thousand  feet  below  my  lofty  and  lovely 
'  Retreat,'  and  is  dotted  with  numerous 
villages  which  are  surrounded  by  clumps 
of  trees  and  terraced  green  fields  of  rice, 
wheat,  and  other  grains.  Through  this 
valley  a  little  river  with  its  tributaries 
winds  in  and  out."  Three  miles  from  the 
asylum    is  Pithoragarh,    where    there  is  a 

266 


Mary  Reed 

flourishing'  girls'  school  under  the  charge  of 
Miss  Annie  Budden,  of  our  Woman's  For- 
eign Missionary  Society,  and  a  community 
of  three  hundred  native  Christians,  with 
whom  Miss  Reed  has  frequent  intercourse, 
so,  as  she  cheerily  writes,  *'I  am  neither 
lonely  nor  alone." 

The  asylum  grounds  cover  over  sixty- 
six  acres,  and  are  shut  in  by  a  low  stone 
wall.  Within  the  inclosure  are  the  neat 
stone  houses  of  the  men,  surrounded  by 
carefully  kept  garden  plots,  and  fifteen 
minutes'  walk  away  the  homes  of  the  wom- 
en. There  is  also  a  hospital  with  dispen- 
sary attached  where  the  worst  cases  can  be 
treated,  a  newly  finished  chapel,  and  Miss 
Reed's  little  bungalow,  besides  other  build- 
ings. The  many  acres  of  unoccupied  land 
are  reserved  for  grazing  and  farming. 
Leprosy  abounds  in  this  fair  mountain  re- 
gion as  in  scarcely  any  other  district  in  In- 
dia. Miss  Reed  writes :  * '  I  am  told  that 
within  a  radius  of  ten  miles  there  are  more 
than  four  hundred  patients  who  ought  to  be 
here  in  the  asylum."  Another  missionary 
adds,  however :  '  *  At  first  it  is  often  difficult 
to  persuade  these  wretched  ones  to  enter 
the  asylums.     They  know  nothing  of  Chris- 

267 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

tian  philanthropy.  What  can  be  wanted  of 
them  but  to  put  them  to  death?  The  few 
first  gained  are  sometimes  made  use  of  by 
sending  them  out  in  carts  to  advertise  to 
the  others  the  comforts  they  may  have." 
The  last  report  gives  the  number  of  in- 
mates at  Chandag  Heights  as  ninety-six,  a 
large  majority  of  whom  were  Christians. 

The  attendance  has  steadily  increased 
each  year  since  Miss  Reed  took  charge  of 
the  work.  A  visiting  missionary  from 
Scotland  tells  of  a  most  interesting  service 
he  held  at  the  asylum  :  '*  At  10:30  o'clock 
we  all  assembled  at  the  side  of  Miss  Reed's 
house,  where  the  lepers  might  sit  in  the 
sun  and  be  warm ;  it  makes  such  a  differ- 
ence to  them,  poor  things!  At  first  the 
women  assembled  and  employed  their  time 
singing  bhajans  till  the  men  should  arrive 
up  from  Panahgah — '  Place  of  Refuge  ' — 
their  home.  I  stood  up  and  walked  to  the 
brow  of  the  hill  to  see  if  there  was  any  sign 
of  the  men  and  boys  coming,  when  a  touch- 
ing sight  met  my  eye.  I  saw  a  long,  strag- 
gling, white  line  of  very  helpless  creatures 
wending  their  way  up  the  mountain  side 
with  considerable  difficulty.  At  last  they 
arrived  and  we  got  them  all  seated,  and, 

268 


Mary  Reed 

ah !  what  a  sight  it  was !  In  front  of  the 
women  and  close  to  us  were  seated  three 
dear  little  girls  with  winsome  wee  faces, 
but  all  far  gone  in  leprosy.  Among  the 
men  were  several  boys  with  sad,  wistful 
faces;  one,  a  little  Nepalese  chap,  had  a 
specially  pathetic  look  on  his  face.  When 
all  were  ready  we  had  a  hymn  and  prayer ; 
then  I  preached  to  them  on  an  interview 
with  Christ,  illustrated  by  the  story  of  the 
woman  at  the  well.  It  was  precious  to  tell 
out  the  riches  of  redeeming  love  to  such  an 
audience.  The  appreciative  smiles,  the 
nods  of  satisfaction,  and  the  verbal  answers 
I  got  from  time  to  time  showed  that  they 
understood  and  gladly  received  what  I 
preached.  We  afterward  asked  those  who 
had  really  given  themselves  to  Jesus  Christ 
and  had  received  the  gift  of  eternal  life 
from  him  to  rise.  Quite  a  large  number, 
both  of  the  men  and  women,  did  so.  I  ob- 
served the  little  Nepalese  lad  hesitating, 
but  finally  he,  too,  stood  up.  Later  we  had 
a  prayer  and  testimony  meeting.  Several 
gave  the  most  clear  testimony  to  the  blessed 
salvation  they  had  received  through  Christ. 
One  young  woman,  in  a  very  beautiful 
prayer,  thanked  God  that  he  had  brought 
18  '-itiy 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

this  disease  upon  her,  as  it  had  been  the 
means  of  leading  her  to  Christ.  Among 
our  audience  were  a  father,  mother,  and  son, 
all  victims  of  this  terrible  disease." 

Besides  the  care  of  the  asylum  Miss  Reed 
has  the  oversight  of  a  very  encouraging 
and  rapidly  growing  work  among  the  wom- 
en and  children  in  a  number  of  the  villages 
which  lie  scattered  through  the  neighboring 
valleys,  and  which  she  carries  on  by  the  aid 
of  native  Bible  teachers  and  evangelists. 
This  work  is  under  the  auspices  of  our 
home  society  and  is  supported  by  it. 

During  the  years  since  Miss  Reed  re- 
turned to  India  thousands  of  prayers  have 
been  offered  for  her  recovery,  and  the  re- 
port has  several  times  gone  abroad  that 
they  were  answered  and  she  was  healed. 
The  disease  has  indeed  been  "wonderfully 
holden,"  as  Miss  Reed  expresses  it,  but  to  a 
dear  missionary  friend.  Dr.  Martha  Sheldon, 
she  recently  said :  '  *  I  am  conscious  of  its 
presence  within,  and  have  been  especially 
so  during  the  last  few  months,  but  I  feel  the 
power  of  God  upon  me  in  holding  me  quiet. 
There  are  days,  too,  when  the  external 
symptoms  are  aggravated  and  more  notice- 
able.    Then   again    they   recede.     What  I 

270 


Mary  Reed 

pass  through  in  my  experiences  no  one 
knows."  And  Dr.  Sheldon  adds:  *' I  feel 
deeply  that,  as  far  as  human  help  is  con- 
cerned, she  is  walking  in  the  furnace  alone, 
and  that  there  is  only  One  who  can  enter  in 
and  comfort  her."  But  what  a  marvelous 
testimony  is  it  to  the  all-sufficiency  of  the 
divine  Comforter  in  the  darkest  Gethsem- 
ane,  when  she  can  write  home  in  words 
like  these  :  ' '  God  has  enabled  me  to  say,  not 
with  a  sigh,  but  with  a  song,  Thy  will  be 
done."  "I  just  couldn't  tie  myself  down 
to  my  writing  desk  this  morning  in  quiet- 
ness of  heart  till  I  first  sat  down  at  my  dear 
organ  and  played  and  sang  with  all  the  thir- 
teen stops  out, 

'  I  am  dwelling  on  the  mountain. 
Where  the  golden  sunlight  gleams  ! '  " 

**I  see  not  trouble  and  sorrow  ahead,  but 
the  joy  of  telling  out  among  the  heathen 
that  our  Saviour  has  power  to  save  to  the 
uttermost."  "  The  song  of  my  heart  is  con- 
tinually, '  Praise  God,  from  whom  all  bless- 
ings flow!  '  "  And  yet  an  intimate  friend, 
referring  to  Miss  Reed's  affliction,  says  of 
her,  '*  She  is  highly  sensitive,  and  of  all  my 
acquaintance  I  know  of  no  one  who  would 

by  nature  more  loathe  this  complaint." 
271 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

Soon  after  Miss  Reed  went  back  to  India 
I  received  from  her  in  a  letter  a  little  card 
of  pressed  ferns  gathered  near  her  moun- 
tain home.  ''  These  delicate  ferns,"  she 
wrote, '  'will give  you  an  inkling  of  the  beauty 
that  lies  all  about  me,  continually  remind- 
ing me  that  the  Mighty  One  is  also  the  Lov- 
ing One.''  On  the  back  of  the  card  were 
these  beautiful  verses  of  Miss  Havergal's : 

"  Alone,  alone  !  yet  round  me  stand 
God's  mountains,  still  and  grand  I 
Still  and  grand,  serene  and  bright, 
Sentinels  clothed  in  armor  white, 
And  helmeted  with  scarlet  light. 

His  power  is  near, 

I  need  not  fear. 
Beneath  the  shadow  of  his  throne, 
Alone,  alone  !  yet  not  alone. 

"  Alone,  alone  !  yet  beneath  me  sleep 
The  flowers  his  hand  doth  keep  ; 
Small  and  fair,  by  crag  and  deli, 
Trustfully  closing  star  and  bell, 
Eve  by  eve  as  twilight  fell. 

His  love  is  near, 

I  need  not  fear. 
Beneath  the  shadow  of  his  throne 
Alone,  alone  !  yet  not  alone." 

Below  the  verses  were  written  the  words : 
''  Mary  Reed,  in  India  till  the  end  of  life." 
As  I  read  them  my  thoughts  went  back  to 

272 


Mary  Reed 

one  afternoon  in  Cawnpore  when,  as  Miss 
Reed  stood  with  me  on  the  veranda  of  her 
house,  looking  out  over  the  tropical  garden, 
she  turned  with  sudden  earnestness  and  said : 
' '  I  want  to  stay  and  work  in  India  till  I  am 
very  old,  but  then  I  should  like  to  go  home 
to  die.  There  is  something  inexpressibly 
sad  to  me  about  the  thought  of  being  buried 
in  this  land.  A  short  time  ago  I  was  visit- 
ing one  evening  with  an  English  lady  living 
in  the  next  compound.  She  appeared  per- 
fectly well,  but  the  following  morning  when 
I  awoke  I  saw  her  being  carried  to  the  cem- 
etery. She  had  been  taken  sick  with  chol- 
era in  the  night,  and  in  this  hot  climate  it 
is  necessary  to  bury  the  dead  at  once.  The 
cemeteries  here  are  not  like  ours,  they  seem 
so  desolate  and  lonely.  O  yes,  I  hope  I  can 
die  at  home." 

Dear  Mary  Reed !  Did  she  think  I  would 
remember  the  conversation  and  wish  to  as- 
sure me  that  she  was  no  longer  possessed 
by  the  old  dread  ?  It  was  as  if  she  would  say, 
' '  Do  not  feel  troubled  about  me  ;  I  no  longer 
fear  to  die  here,  but  can  exclaim  with  the 
missionary  who  laid  down  her  life  on  these 
shores  a  few  years  since,  *  India  is  just  as 
near  heaven  as  America! '  "     So  this  noble 

273 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

woman  works  bravely  and  hopefully  on,  con- 
tent to  know  that  when  her  allotted  task  is 
finished  she  will  be  laid  to  rest  on  alien  soil 
and  under  Orient  skies,  since  it  is  only 
* '  until  the  day  break,  and  the  shadows  flee 
away." 

274 


vm 
Polynesian  flDlselons 

BY 

W.  H.  WiTHROw^  D.D. 


Polynesian  Missions 


VIII 
Polynesian  Missions 

JOHN     WILLIAMS,     THE    MARTYR     OF     ERRO- 
MANGA^ 

The  countless  islands  of  the  Polynesian 
Archipelago  possess  an  intense  interest  to 
the  Christian,  the  scientist,  and  the  states- 
man. Here  some  of  the  noblest  triumphs 
of  the  cross  have  been  won.  Their  social 
constitution  and  history  present  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  examples  of  the  civiliza- 
tion of  once  savage  races ;  and  with  these 
islands  are  associated  some  of  the  grandest 
records  of  Christian  philanthropy.  These 
"Summer  isles  of  Eden  lying 
In  dark  purple  spheres  of  sea" 

appeared  to  the  first  European  visitors 
among  the  loveliest  and  most  favored  spots 
on    earth.     The   breadfruit   tree    and    the 

*  The  principal  authorities  for  this  paper  are  Rowe's  Life 
of  John  Hunt,  Williams's  Fiji  and  Fijians,  and  Calvert's 
Missionary  Labors  Affiong  the  Cannibals,  2  vols.  ;  Moister's 
History  of  IVesleyan  Missions,  Cummings's  At  L/ome  in  Fiji, 
London  Quarterly,  January,  1882,  article  "  Fiji,"  and  Bishop 
Walsh's  Biography  of  John  Williams. 
277 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

cocoa  palm  waved  their  foliage  in  the  balmy 

air. 

"  In  a  halcyon  sea  mid  the  coral  grove 
The  purple  mullet  and  goldfish  rove" 

Flowers  of  brightest  hues  and  fragrance 
and  fruits  of  richest  flavor  abounded. 
Surely  here,  if  anywhere  on  earth,  were 
the  Islands  of  the  Blessed,  and  here  must 
be  found  the  primeval  innocence  and  happi- 
ness of  that  Golden  Age  of  which  poets  had 
sung! 

But  how  different  was  the  reality !  These 
scenes  of  fairy  loveliness  were  full  of  the 
habitations  of  cruelty,  and  were  in  danger  of 
becoming  depopulated  through  the  abomi- 
nable wickedness  of  the  inhabitants.  Chronic 
wars  wasted  the  islands,  and  the  victors 
feasted  upon  the  flesh  of  their  conquered 
enemies.  Even  woman's  heart  forgot  its 
pitifulness,  and  ''mothers  slept  calmly  on 
the  beds  beneath  which  they  had  buried 
many  of  their  own  murdered  infants." 

' '  What  Cook  was  among  navigators,  John 
Williams  was  among  missionaries.  Both 
were  eminently  distinguished  for  their  hero- 
ism and  their  philanthropy.  The  lot  and 
labor  of  both  were  mainly  cast  among  those 
lovely  groups    of   islands  whose    feathery 

278 


Polynesian  Missions 

palms  are  mirrored  in  the  waters  of  the  Pa- 
cific. These  islands  were  made  known  to 
the  civilized  world  by  the  one ;  they  were 
brought  into  the  fellowship  of  Christendom 
by  the  other.  Both  of  these  distinguished 
men  lost  their  lives  by  murderous  hands 
upon  those  distant  coasts  in  the  noble 
effort  to  do  their  duty  to  God  and  to  be  a 
blessing  to  their  fellow-men.  And  if  Cook 
was  a  real  martyr  in  the  cause  of  science, 
Williams  was  a  real  martyr  in  the  cause  of 
religion." 

Tottenham  Court  Road  is  one  of  the  most 
crowded  and  busy  thoroughfares  of  London. 
It  has  Methodist  associations  from  the  cir- 
cumstance that  in  this  region  was  situated 
Whitefield's  famous  tabernacle.  In  this 
populous  neighborhood  the  future  illus- 
trious missionary,  John  Williams,  was  born, 
1796.  From  his  boyhood  he  exhibited  that 
mechanical  aptitude  and  manual  dexterity 
which  he  afterward  turned  to  such  good 
account  among  the  barbarous  South  Sea 
islanders.  He  was  familiarly  spoken  of  as 
the  "handy  lad,"  who  repaired  the  break- 
ages of  the  household  utensils  and  furni- 
ture. 

Probably  in  consequence  of  this  natural 
279 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

bent  he  was  apprenticed  to  an  ironmonger 
in  City  Road.  It  was  soon  observed  that 
he  was  more  inclined  to  the  anvil  and  forge, 
although  exempted  by  his  indentures  from 
the  more  laborious  parts  of  the  business, 
than  to  the  more  cleanly  and,  as  some 
would  think,  more  respectable  department 
of  the  office  and  store.  He  thus  became  an 
expert  handicraftsman — a  sort  of  Quentin 
Matsys  in  his  way — and  was  frequently  em- 
ployed by  his  master  in  the  execution  of 
orders  demanding  peculiar  dexterity  and 
skill. 

His  parents  were  pious  people,  and  en- 
deavored to  train  up  their  son  in  the  ways 
of  religion.  But  with  the  natural  wayward- 
ness of  youth  he  was  restive  beneath  their 
restraints,  and  in  the  company  of  fellow- 
apprentices  sought  the  frivolous  amuse- 
ments afforded  by  the  great  metropolis. 
One  Sunday  evening,  we  are  told,  he  was 
loitering  at  a  street  corner  waiting  for 
some  companions  to  accompany  him  to 
some  such  place  of  resort,  so  unbecoming 
the  sanctity  of  the  day.  The  delay  of  his 
comrades  gave  an  opportunity  for  the  com- 
punctions of  a  conscience  dormant  but  not 
dead. 


Polynesian  Missions 

Just  at  that  moment  it  chanced — or  was 
it  chance?— that  the  wife  of  his  employer 
passed  on  her  way  to  Mr.  Whitefield's 
tabernacle.  ''It  proved,"  says  his  biog- 
rapher, "  the  turning-point  in  his  life,  and 
many  years  afterward,  when  the  successful 
missionary  was  narrating  to  a  breathless 
audience,  in  the  same  place  of  worship,  the 
story  of  his  labors  and  successes,  he  pointed 
with  deep  emotion  to  the  door  by  which  he 
had  entered  and  to  the  pew  in  which  he 
had  sat  on  that  memorable  night  when  the 
word  of  God  had  been  fastened  in  his  heart, 
as  in  a  sure  place,  by  the  Master  of  assem- 
blies." 

The  young  convert  forthwith  engaged 
earnestly  in  Christian  work,  so  far  as  oppor- 
tunity offered — and  opportunity  was  not 
wanting  in  that  great  and  wicked  city, 
greater  and,  considering  the  Christian  light 
and  knowledge  abounding  on  every  side, 
more  wicked  than  ancient  Nineveh.  These 
were  the  early  years  of  foreign  missionary 
work.  Already  the  London  Missionary  So- 
ciety was  endeavoring  to  win  from  heathen- 
ism to  Christianity  those  sunny  islands  of 
the  Southern  Seas  which  Cook  and  his  fel- 
low-discoverers had  unveiled  to  the  world. 

281 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

Here  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  had  already 
been  preached,  and  had  won,  as  amid  the 
corruptions  of  Corinth  and  the  cruelties  of 
Rome,  its  wonted  triumphs.  In  some  of 
the  islands  the  natives  renounced  their 
idolatry  and  gave  up  their  bloody  rites. 
Across  the  sea  came  the  cry  for  more  labor- 
ers for  this  field  of  toil  and  danger.  Among 
the  first  to  respond  was  the  zealous  young 
convert,  John  Williams,  being  then  only  in 
his  twentieth  year.  He  offered  his  services 
to  the  London  Missionary  vSociety,  and  was 
accepted  for  the  work  to  which  he  gave  his 
life. 

* '  It  was  on  the  30th  of  September,  1 8 1 6, " 
says  his  biographer,  ''  that  nine  young  men 
stood  side  by  side  in  Surrey  Chapel  to  re- 
ceive their  missionary  designation.  John 
Williams  and  Robert  Moffat  were  the  two 
youngest  of  the  band,  the  former  destined 
to  be  the  'Apostle  of  Polynesia,'  the  latter 
to  win  for  himself  a  name  in  connection 
with  the  Dark  Continent  of  Africa  only 
second  to  that  of  Livingstone,  his  illustrious 
son-in-law.  The  words  in  which  the  aged 
minister  who  addressed  them  gave  his  part- 
ing exhortation  to  John  Williams  rang,  not 
only  then,  but  through  all  his  after  life,  like 

282 


Polynesian  Missions 

a  trumpet  in  his  ears :  '  Go,  my  dear  young 
brother,  and  if  your  tongue  cleave  to  the 
roof  of  your  mouth  let  it  be  with  telling 
sinners  of  the  love  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  if 
your  arms  drop  from  your  shoulders  let  it 
be  with  knocking  at  men's  hearts  to  gain 
admittance  for  him  there.'" 

With  his  young  and  devoted  wife,  who 
proved  herself  a  noble  helpmeet  in  many  a 
time  of  trial,  John  Williams  set  forth  for 
the  scene  of  his  future  triumphs  and  mar- 
tyrdom. Men  could  not  then  go  ''round 
the  world  in  eighty  days,"  and  a  whole  year 
elapsed  before  the  cocoa  groves  of  Eimeo, 
one  of  the  Society  Islands,  greeted  the  eyes 
of  the  young  missionary,  weary  with  con- 
templating the  wide  waste  of  the  melan- 
choly main.  Here  he  remained  for  vSome 
time  acquiring  the  native  language.  His 
extraordinary  mechanical  skill  commanded 
the  admiration  of  the  islanders,  and,  gain- 
ing their  confidence,  he  soon  acquired  great 
facility  in  adopting  their  modes  of  thought 
and  expression. 

It  is  remarkable  by  what  means  God  often 
breaks  down  barriers  and  prepares  the  way 
for  the  entrance  of  the  Gospel.  Pomare, 
the  Christian  Kins^  of  Tahiti,  and  an  En  owlish 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

missionary  had  been  driven  by  a  storm 
upon  the  island  of  Raiatea,  the  center  of 
political  power  of  the  Society  group  and  the 
seat  of  the  worship  of  Oro — "at  once  the 
Mars  and  Moloch  of  the  Southern  Seas." 
The  evidences  of  the  superiority  of  Chris- 
tian civilization  induced  the  chief  of  Raiatea 
to  petition  for  missionaries  to  instruct  his 
people.  To  this  appeal  John  Williams  joy- 
fully responded. 

''  There  was  a  grand  welcome,"  says  the 
record  of  this  Mission,  ''at  Raiatea  for 
'  Viriamu,'  which  was  the  nearest  form  of 
pronunciation  that  the  natives  could  find  in 
their  speech  for  the  name  of  Williams.  A 
present  of  five  pigs  for  Viriamu,  five  for  his 
wife,  and  five  for  their  baby  boy,  with 
abundance  of  yams  and  cocoanuts  and 
bananas,  proved  that  the  people  were  willing 
to  accept  their  new  teachers.  They  were 
ready,  moreover,  to  hear  Mr.  Williams 
preach,  to  observe  the  Lord's  Day,  to  re- 
nounce their  idols ;  but  their  moral  condi- 
tion was  unutterably  debased,  their  idleness 
inveterate,  their  habits  of  theft,  polygamy, 
and  infanticide  were  abominable,  and  their 
darker  and  fiercer  passions  were  something 
awful  when  roused  to  war  and  vengeance." 

284 


Polynesian  Missions 

Here  again  the  mechanical  ingenuity  of 
the  missionary  proved  a  valuable  aid  to  his 
spiritual  labors.  As  he  well  remarks  in  one 
of  his  journals  :  "  The  missionary  does  not 
go  to  barbarize  himself,  but  to  elevate  the 
heathen ;  not  to  sink  himself  to  their 
standard,  but  to  raise  them  to  his."  Ac- 
cordingly he  built  himself  a  house,  with 
window  sashes  and  Venetian  blinds,  and 
filled  it  with  neat  and  commodious  furni- 
ture, almost  every  article  of  which  was 
made  by  his  own  ingenious  hands.  He 
taught  the  natives  how  to  make  lime  from 
coral  and  to  build  decent  houses  for  them- 
selves. When  they  beheld  the  firm,  smooth 
surface  of  the  snow-white  plaster  their  de- 
light and  astonishment  knew  no  bounds. 
Their  zealous  instructor  also  set  them  the 
example  of  gardening  and  agriculture  and 
boat  building,  and  rewarded  all  attempts  at 
industry  by  presents  of  nails,  hinges,  and 
tools. 

Soon  a  place  of  worship  was  erected  in 
their  island  capable  of  containing  some 
three  thousand  people.  Williams  took  care 
to  make  it,  as  far  as  possible,  worthy  of  the 
purpose  for  which  it  was  designed.  It  was 
truly  a  noble  Polynesian  cathedral,  though 

19  285 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

its  sides  were  made  of  wattles  and  its  pillars 
of  the  trunks  of  trees.  He  expended  special 
care  upon  the  carving  of  the  pulpit  and  the 
reading  desk,  and  fabricated  such  wondrous 
chandeliers  for  evening  service  that  the 
natives  were  lost  in  astonishment. 

These  were,  however,  but  means  toward 
an  end,  the  salvation  of  souls.  Christianity 
began  to  make  its  way.  The  idol  houses, 
which  were  often  the  scenes  of  cruel  and  can- 
nibal orgies,  were  pulled  down,  the  gods 
were  committed  to  the  flames,  infanticide  was 
abolished,  cannibalism  was  at  an  end,  divine 
service  was  held  three  times  every  Sunday, 
family  prayer  v/as  universal,  and  the  people, 
who  lately  seemed  as  if  possessed  by  devils, 
were  "sitting  clothed  in  their  right  mind." 
"With  respect  to  civilization,"  says  Mr. 
Williams,  "the  natives  are  doing  all  that 
we  can  reasonably  expect,  and  every  person 
is  now  daily  and  busily  employed  from 
morning  till  night.  At  present  there  is  a 
range  of  three  miles  along  the  sea  beach 
studded  with  little  plastered  and  white- 
washed cottages,  with  their  own  schooner 
lying  at  anchor  near  them.  All  this  forms 
such  a  contrast  to  the  view  we  had  here 
three   years    ago,    when,    excepting   three 

286 


Polynesian  Missions 

hovels,  all  was  wilderness,  that  we  cannot 
but  be  thankful,  and,  when  we  consider  all 
things,  exceedingly  thankful,  for  what  God 
has  wrought." 

'  'Williams, "  remarks  his  biographer, ' '  was 
a  statesman  as  well  as  a  mechanic.  He  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  a  new  and  admirable  code 
of  laws  established  by  the  votes  of  the  peo- 
ple in  a  great  assembly.  Trial  by  jury  was 
a  distinctive  feature  of  this  code,  and  such 
an  efficient  executive  was  provided  from 
among  the  natives  themselves  that  the  whole 
system  worked  admirably.  He  laid  the 
foundations,  moreover,  for  a  remunerative 
commerce  by  teaching  them  how  to  culti- 
vate cotton  and  tobacco,  as  well  as  by  in- 
structing them  in  ropemaking  and  other 
useful  arts.  He  taught  them  how  to  pre- 
pare the  sugar  cane  for  the  market,  and  not 
only  constructed  a  mill  for  the  purpose,  but 
made  with  his  own  hands  the  lathe  in  which 
the  rollers  for  it  were  turned." 

The  zealous  missionary  was  not  satisfied 
with  even  these  results.  He  organized  a 
missionary  society  to  carry  the  Gospel  to 
the  surrounding  islands,  and  these  recent 
pagans,  at  the  end  of  the  first  year,  had 
given   some    fifteen    thousand  bamboos  of 

287 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

cocoanut  oil,  the  value  of  which  was  at 
least  two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  as 
a  recognition  of  their  own  obligations  to 
the  Gospel  and  of  their  earnest  desire  to 
make  it  known  to  others. 

The  missionary  had  heard  among  the 
natives  strange  songs  and  traditions  of  an 
island  which  they  called  Raratonga,  which 
he  was  anxious  to  discover  and  evangelize. 
''  I  cannot,"  he  said,  ''  content  myself  with 
the  narrow  limits  of  a  single  reef ;  and  if 
means  are  not  provided  a  continent  would 
be  to  me  infinitely  preferable;  for  there, 
if  you  cannot  ride,  you  can  walk;  but  to 
these  isolated  islands  a  ship  must  carry 
you." 

After  appealing  in  vain  to  the  Christians 
of  England  for  a  missionary  vessel  he  him- 
self chartered  the  schooner  Endeavour^  and 
with  some  native  Christians  set  out  on  his 
voyage  of  discovery.  "  The  story,"  wSays 
Bishop  Walsh,  "  reads  like  a  romance,  and 
reminds  one  of  Columbus  and  his  search 
for  the  New  World.  Baffled  day  after  day 
in  his  efforts  to  discover  the  traditionary 
island,  he  still  persevered.  The  provisions 
were  all  but  exhausted ;  the  captain  came 
to  the  missionary  early  on  the  last  morning 

288 


Polynesian  Missions 

and  said,  *We  must  give  up  the  search,  or 
we  shall  all  be  starved.'  Williams  begged 
him  to  steer  on  until  eight  o'clock,  and 
promised  that  if  the  island  were  not  then 
in  sight  he  would  return  home.  It  was  an 
anxious  hour.  Four  times  had  a  native 
been  sent  to  the  top  of  the  mast,  and  he 
was  now  ascending  for  the  fifth.  Only  half 
an  hour  of  the  time  agreed  upon  remained 
unexpired,  w^hen  suddenly  the  cloud-mist 
rolled  away,  the  majestic  hills  of  Rara- 
tonga,  the  chief  of  the  Hervey  group,  stood 
full  inview^  and  the  excited  sailor  shouted, 
'  Here,  here  is  the  land  we  have  been  seek- 
ing! '" 

Similar  results  followed  as  at  Raiatea, 
and  within  twelve  months  of  its  discovery 
the  whole  population,  numbering  some 
seven  thousand,  had  renounced  idolatry 
and  were  engaged  in  erecting  a  place  of 
worship,  six  hundred  feet  in  length,  to  ac- 
commodate the  overwhelming  congrega- 
tions. "  But  not  even  triumphs  like  these," 
says  his  biographer,  ''could  satisfy  the 
grand  aspirations  of  this  devoted  man.  He 
looked  out  upon  the  Polynesian  world  of 
islands  v/hich  still  remained  unevangelized 
around  him  and    beyond    him,  and  he  re- 

289 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

solved  to  build  a  ship  of  his  own,  in  which 
he  might  roam  through  the  vast  archipelago 
of  the  Eastern  world." 

His  account  of  the  building  of  that  ship 
reads  like  another  romance,  and  has  been 
compared  to  a  chapter  in  Defoe.  With 
none  to  help  him  but  the  natives  whom  he 
had  raised  from  savagedom ;  with  only  a 
few  rude  tools,  and  with  no  experience  save 
that  w^hich  he  had  acquired  as  an  ironmon- 
ger's apprentice,  he  planned  and  carried  to 
completion  his  ambitious  project.  The  na- 
tives looked  on  in  wonder  as  the  teacher 
built  his  ship.  One  day,  when  he  had  for- 
gotten his  square,  he  wrote  for  it  to  his  wife 
upon  a  chip,  and  told  a  chief  to  carry  it  to 
Mrs.  Williams.  ''What  shall  I  say?  "  in- 
quired the  puzzled  Raratongan.  **  Noth- 
ing," replied  the  missionary;  ''the  chip 
will  tell  her."  When,  on  reading  the  mes- 
sage, she  gave  him  the  square  the  aston- 
ished chieftain  ran  through  the  settlement 
exclaiming,  "  O,  the  wisdom  of  these 
English!  They  make  chips  talk!"  And 
he  tied  a  string  to  the  mysterious  messenger 
and  hung  it  as  an  amulet  around  his  neck ! 

The  story  of  Williams  making  his  first 
bellows  is  well  known.     There  were  only 

290 


Polynesian  Missions 

four  goats  on  the  island,  and  three  of  them 
were  killed  to  furnish  the  leather  for  it. 
But  during  the  night  the  rats  of  Raratonga, 
which  were  like  one  of  the  plagues  of 
Egypt,  congregated  in  vast  numbers  and 
left  nothing  of  the  bellows  but  the  boards. 
Williams  then  ingeniously  constructed  a 
blowing  machine  on  the  principle  of  the 
common  pump,  which  defied  the  rats  and 
accomplished  his  purpose.  Then  the  builder 
was  soon  on  board  his  Messenger  of  Peace, 
which  the  natives  called  '*  The  Ship  of  God," 
and  was  carrying  the  glad  tidings  of  salva- 
tion to  the  surrounding  shores. 

From  island  to  island  he  sailed,  preaching 
everywhere  the  Gospel  of  the  grace  of  God, 
till,  of  sixty  thousand  natives  of  the  Samoan 
group,  fifty  thousand  were  under  religious 
instruction.  The  grateful  people  testified 
their  love  for  the  missionary  in  songs  and 
ballads,  of  which  the  following  are  exam- 
ples : 

"  Let  us  talk  of  Viriamu. 
Let  cocoanuts  grow  for  him  in  peace  for  months. 
When   strong  the    east  winds  blow,    our  hearts  forget 

him  not. 
Let  us  greatly  love  the  Christian  land  of  the  great  white 

chief. 
All  victors  are  we  now,  for  we  all  have  one  God." 
201 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

"  The  birds  are  crying  for  Viriamu, 
His  ship  has  sailed  another  way. 
The  birds  are  crying  for  Viriamu, 
Long  time  is  he  in  coming. 
Will  he  ever  come  again  ? 
Will  he  ever  come  again  ?  " 

This  is  the  testimony  of  the  heroic  mis- 
sionary as  to  the  divine  power  of  the  Gospel : 
*'  Christianity  has  triumphed,  not  by  human 
authority,  but  by  its  own  moral  power,  by 
the  light  which  it  spread  abroad,  and  by 
the  benevolent  spirit  which  it  disseminated; 
for  kindness  is  the  key  to  the  human  heart, 
whether  it  be  that  of  savage  or  civilized 
man.  Having  witnessed  the  introduction 
of  Christianity  into  a  greater  number  of 
islands  than  any  other  missionary,  I  can 
safely  affirm  that  in  no  single  instance  has 
the  civil  power  been  employed  in  its  propa- 
gation." 

After  eighteen  years  of  hallowed  labor 
this  heroic  man  was  able  to  say,  "  There  is 
not  an  island  of  importance  within  two 
thousand  miles  of  Tahiti  to  w^hicli  the  glad 
tidings  of  salvation  has  not  been  conveyed." 
But  the  results  accomplished  he  regarded  as 
only  stepping-.stones  to  still  greater  results 
in  the  future.  He  therefore  resolved  to 
visit  England  to  tell  of  the  three  hundred 

292 


Polynesian  Missions 

thousand  savages  already  brought  under  re- 
ligious instruction,  to  get  his  Raratongan 
version  of  the  Scriptures  through  the  press, 
and  to  arouse  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen 
to  the  blessed  work  of  giving  the  Gospel  to 
the  heathen. 

''It  is  not  too  much,"  writes  Bishop 
Walsh,  ' '  to  say  that  his  visit  did  more  to  fan 
the  flame  of  missionary  interest  in  England 
than  any  event  which  had  occurred  for  a 
century.  When,  at  the  end  of  four  years, 
he  sailed  down  the  Tliames  in  the  Camden 
(a  vessel  of  two  hundred  tons  burden  which 
had  been  expressly  purchased  for  his  use  at 
a  cost  of  .^2,600)  he  was  accompanied  on 
his  voyage  by  sixteen  other  missionaries 
and  their  wives,  and  was  followed  by  such 
a  gale  of  prayer  and  interest  from  the  tens 
of  thousands  who  had  been  thrilled  by  his 
narratives  as  plainly  testified  how  much  his 
visit  had  been  blessed  to  hearts  at  home." 

He  had  set  his  heart  on  the  conquest  for 
Christ  of  the  New  Hebrides,  a  group  whose 
inhabitants  were  known  to  be  violent  and 
suspicious.  After  visiting  all  his  old  sta- 
tions he  resolved  on  planting  a  mission  at 
Erromanga,  the  key  of  the  Hebrides  group. 
He  seemed  to  have  a  foreboding  of  his  com- 

293 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

ing  fate,  and  as  the  text  for  his  last  address 
to  his  beloved  Samoans  he  chose  the  words 
of  the  apostle  at  Miletus :  ' '  They  all  wept 
sore,  and  fell  on  Paul's  neck,  and  kissed 
him,  sorrowing  most  of  all  for  the  words 
which  he  spake,  that  they  should  see  his 
face  no  more." 

Having  reached  the  island,  Mr.  Williams, 
with  a  small  party,  went  ashore.  The  na- 
tives were  shy  and  sullen,  but  the  mission- 
ary frankly  offered  his  hand  and  presented 
some  cloth.  They  accepted  his  gifts,  but 
while  he  was  speaking  to  some  children  the 
cry  of  ''  danger  "  from  the  boats  caused  the 
party  to  run.  Two  of  them  escaped,  but 
the  heroic  Williams  and  Mr.  Harris,  another 
missionary,  w^ere  pierced  with  arrows  and 
captured  by  the  natives. 

'*  There  can  be  little  doubt,"  continues 
the  narrative  of  this  tragic  event,  ''that 
the  horrid  orgies  of  cannibalism  followed 
closely  upon  the  murder,  for  when  the  Brit- 
ish ship  Favorite  visited  the  island  to  re- 
cover the  bodies  a  few  bones  were  surren- 
dered as  the  only  remains  of  the  man  w^ho 
had  done  so  much  good  in  his  day  and  gen- 
eration. These  were  carried  to  Upolu  and 
laid  beside  his  desolate  home  and  widowed 

294 


Polynesian  Missions 

church.  The  noblest  monument  that  could 
be  raised  to  his  memory  was  the  resolution 
of  his  Samoan  converts  to  carry  on  that 
work  in  pursuit  of  which  their  beloved 
teacher  fell,  and  to  plant  the  standard  of 
the  cross  upon  the  soil  of  Erromanga." 

A  few  years  later  the  saintly  Selwyn, 
Bishop  of  New  Zealand,  on  his  first  visit  to 
the  New  Hebrides,  touched  at  Erromanga 
with  a  native  teacher.  They  knelt  together 
on  its  blood-stained  shore  and  asked  God  to 
open  a  way  for  his  Gospel  to  the  degraded 
inhabitants.  At  length,  in  1852,  two  na- 
tive Christians  from  the  Hervey  Islands 
were  landed,  and  one  of  those  chiefs  who 
were  most  forward  in  giving  them  a  wel- 
come was  the  very  man  who  had  murdered 
Williams.  It  turned  out  upon  inquiry  that 
some  foreigners  had  killed  his  own  son  and 
that  he  had  avenged  himself  upon  the  first 
white  man  that  came  within  his  reach  ;  but 
the  very  club  that  struck  the  fatal  blow  was 
surrendered  to  the  missionaries,  and  the 
prayer  which  had  been  offered  up  on  that 
ensanguined  beach  was  at  length  fully  an- 
swered. 

"  Erromanga,  however,  was  to  have  otlier 
associations  with  the  noble  army  of  martyrs 

296 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

before  that  blessed  consummation  could  be 
attained.  In  1861  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gordon,  a 
devoted  missionary  pair,  were  savagely 
massacred  by  some  of  the  heathen.  A 
touching  link  between  their  death  and  two 
other  martyrs  is  this,  that  they  were  buried 
close  to  the  spot  where  Williams  fell  and 
that  the  funeral  service  of  the  Church  of 
England  was  read  over  their  graves  by 
Bishop  Patterson,  himself  destined  to  be 
the  '  Martyr  of  Melanesia.'  " 

It  is  the  deliberate  opinion  of  Bishop 
Walsh,  the  biographer  of  this  devoted  mis- 
sionary, that  *'  since  the  days  of  the  apos- 
tles no  one  man  was  the  means  of  winning 
so  many  thousands  to  the  true  faith  of  Christ 
by  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  as  John 
Williams."  And  yet  he  sealed  his  testi- 
mony with  his  blood  at  the  early  age  of 
forty-three.  His  life  was  short  if  measured 
by  3^ears,  but  if  measured  by  results — by 
noble  achievements  for  God  and  for  man — 
it  was  long  and  grand  and  glorious !  His 
undying  fame  is  recorded  in  his  brief  but 
glorious  epitaph:  ''When  he  came  there 
were  no  Christians,  when  he  left  there  were 
no  heathen." 

296 


Polynesian  Missions 

JOHN    HUNT,    THE   APOSTLE    OF    FIJI. 

We  turn  now  to  the  remarkable  story 
of  the  conversion  of  Fiji.  This  name  is 
given  to  a  group  of  islands,  some  two 
hundred  and  twenty-five  in  number,  scat- 
tered over  an  area  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  by  three  hundred  and  seventy  miles,  of 
which  about  one  hundred  and  forty  are  in- 
habited. The  population  in  1893  was  125,- 
442.  The  largest  of  these  islands,  Vitu 
Levu,  is  about  the  same  size  as  Jamaica. 
The  story  of  this  fair  and  fertile  group, 
long  the  habitation  of  cruelty,  is  one  of  in- 
tense interest.  That  a  Lincolnshire  plow- 
boy,  who  grew  up  to  manhood  with  no  ed- 
ucational advantages,  should,  before  his 
thirty-sixth  year,  be  the  chief  instrument 
in  the  conversion  to  Christianity  and  civili- 
zation of  one  of  the  most  barbarous  races  of 
cannibals  on  the  face  of  the  earth  is  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  events  in  the  annals  of 
Christian  missions. 

The  father  of  John  Hunt  had  been  a  sol- 
dier, but  deserted  and  entered  the  navy. 
He  was  with  Nelson  at  the  battle  of  the 
Nile,  and,  from  hearing  his  fireside  stories, 
his  son  resolved  to  be  himself  a  hero.    Young 

297 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

Hunt  was  put,  at  ten  years  of  age,  to  the 
hard  work  of  plowboy.  At  sixteen  he  fell 
ill  of  brain  fever,  and  was  brought  to  the 
verge  of  the  grave.  His  soul  was  filled  with 
dread,  and  on  his  recovery  he  began  to  at- 
tend a  Methodist  chapel.  As  he  followed 
the  plow  thoughts  of  eternity  agitated  his 
mind  and  so  engrossed  his  thoughts  that, 
once  being  ordered  to  take  a  load  of  corn  to 
market,  he  set  off  with  an  empty  wagon. 
He  became  soundly  converted,  and,  being 
full  of  zeal,  he  was  soon  asked  to  address  a 
village  congregation.  His  first  attempt  was 
a  failure.  His  thoughts  took  flight.  He  sat 
down  overwhelmed  with  confusion,  and  went 
home  sad  and  discouraged.  Conscious  of 
his  want  of  culture,  he  caught  at  every 
chance  of  training  his  mind  by  attending 
night  school  and  learning  to  read  and  write. 
In  spite  of  his  uncouth  appearance  and 
rustic  brogue  he  became  a  favorite  with  the 
rural  congregations  which  he  addressed.  He 
was  still  a  hard-working  farm  servant.  After 
walking  many  miles  on  Sunday,  often  not 
reaching  home  till  midnight,  he  was  in  the 
stables  grooming  his  horses  at  four  o'clock 
next  morning.  Being  asked  if  he  would  like 
to  become  a  preacher,  he  confessed  that  he 

298 


Polynesian  Missions 

would  like  to  go  as  a  servant  with  a  mission- 
ary to  South  Africa  and  teach  in  a  Sunday 
school,  so  modest  was  his  ambition.  The 
mission  secretaries  rather  laughed  at  the 
idea ;  but  he  was  recommended  for  the  min- 
istry, and  at  length  was  sent  to  the  Hoxton 
Training  School.  He  devoted  himself  with 
energy  to  English,  Latin,  Greek,  and  theol- 
ogy— hitherto  his  only  books  had  been  a 
Bible  and  Pilgrims  Progress — and  during 
vacation  this  raw  plowboy  was  sent  to 
preach,  of  all  places  in  the  world,  in  the  col- 
legiate city  of  Oxford. 

About  two  years  before  this  two  Wes- 
leyan  missionaries  had  gone  as  pioneers 
from  Australia  to  Fiji.  Their  account  of  the 
cannibal  orgies  of  the  islands  was  a  revela- 
tion of  horror  to  England.  The  Wesleyan 
Mission  House  issued  an  appeal,  ' '  Pity  Poor 
Fiji,"  which  stirred  the  societies  through- 
out the  kingdom.  Young  Hunt  and  James 
Calvert,  a  Yorkshire  lad  who  had  recently 
completed  his  apprenticeship  as  printer  and 
bookbinder,  were  chosen  to  reinforce  that 
little  band  among  cannibals.  A  fellow-stu- 
dent condoled  with  Hunt  on  the  perils 
which  he  must  encounter.  "  That's  not  it," 
exclaimed  the  brave-souled  man.      "  There 

299 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

is  a  poor  girl  in  Lincolnshire  who  will  never 
go  with  me  to  Fiji;  her  mother  will  never 
consent !  "  He  wrote  at  once  a  manly  letter 
to  his  betrothed,  releasing  her  from  her  en- 
gagement. In  a  few  days  he  burst  into  his 
friend's  room,  saying,  '*  It's  all  right !  She'll 
go  with  m.e  anywhere."  In  a  few  weeks 
they  were  married  and  on  their  way  to  the 
scene  of  their  future  trials  and  triumphs  at 
the  antipodes.  At  Sydney  they  met  John 
Williams,  the  destined  martyr  of  Erro- 
manga,  and  they  sailed  the  same  day  to  their 
different  fields  of  toil. 

On  reaching  Fiji,  December  22,  1838,  the 
young  missionary  and  his  wife  were  ap- 
pointed to  Rev/a,  a  solitary  station  remote 
from  Christian  aid  or  sympathy.  They  went 
undismayed  to  their  arduous  post.  ''  They 
soon  found,"  said  Bishop  Walsh,  ' '  that  so  far 
as  the  cruelties  of  the  people  were  concerned 
the  half  had  not  been  told  them.  The  Fiji- 
ans  were,  perhaps,  the  most  deeply  degraded 
race  of  human  beings  that  had  ever  been  met 
with  in  any  of  the  South  Sea  Islands.  They 
were  superstitious,  cruel,  and  revengeful  in 
the  extreme,  and  addicted  to  war  and  blood- 
shed, in  connection  with  which  they  often 
committed  deeds  of  savage  barbarity  a  de- 

300 


Polynesian  Missions 

scription  of  which  would  not  be  fit  for  the 
ears  of  civilized  Christian  people." 

In  personal  appearance  the  Fijians  are 
vStout  and  robust.  They  care  little  about 
clothing,  except  on  state  occasions,  when 
they  paint  their  bodies  and  pay  special  at- 
tention to  the  dressing-  of  the  hair,  which  is 
arrayed  in  the  most  extraordinary  and  fan- 
tastic manner.  We  continue  to  quote  as 
follows  from  Bishop  Walsh's  graphic  sketch  : 

"  Infanticide  and  cannibalism  flourished 
in  even  darker  forms  than  in  other  savage 
lands.  Two  thirds  of  all  the  children  were 
killed  in  infancy,  and  every  village  had  an 
executioner  appointed  to  carry  out  this  deed 
of  blood.  Those  who  survived  were  early 
trained  to  the  darkest  deeds.  Dead  bodies 
were  handed  over  to  young  children  to  hack 
and  hew ;  living  captives  were  given  up  to 
them  to  mutilate  and  torture.  No  marvel 
if  we  read  that  sick  and  aged  parents  were 
put  out  of  the  way  by  the  clubs  of  their  own 
offspring,  and  that  hoary  hairs  and  failing 
strength  excited  neither  reverence  nor  com- 
passion. As  to  cannibalism,  it  had  become 
an  epicurean  art.  It  was  no  uncommon 
thing  for  a  man  to  select  his  best  wife  or 
his  most  tender  child  for  the  dreadful  fes- 

30  30 1 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

tival,  and  even  to  invite  his  friends  to  the 
awful  banquet. 

''  Ra  Undreundu  kept  a  register  by 
means  of  stones  of  the  bodies  which  he  had 
eaten,  and  they  numbered  nine  htmdred ! 
The  horrid  practice  mingled  itself  with  all 
the  acts  of  life  and  Avorship.  The  building 
of  a  canoe,  the  burial  of  the  dead,  the  pay- 
ment of  tax,  and  even  the  taking  down  of 
a  mast,  were  each  accompanied  with  this 
revolting  ceremonial.  A  chief  has  been 
known  to  kill  eight  or  ten  men  in  order  to 
make  rollers  for  the  launching  of  his  canoe, 
and  the  ovens  were  previously  ablaze  to 
cook  them  for  his  banquet.  We  must  draw 
the  veil  over  still  darker  scenes  which  will 
not  endure  recital  in  Christian  ears." 

Amid  all  this  savagery  Mr.  Hunt  writes: 
''  I  feel  myself  saved  from  almost  all  fear, 
though  surrounded  with  men  who  have 
scarcely  any  regard  for  human  life.  We 
are  in  the  hands  of  a  God  whom  even  the 
heathen  fear  when  they  hear  of  him.  The 
people  at  Lakemba  say  that  their  god  has 
actually  left  the  island  because  our  God  has 
beaten  him  till  his  bones  are  sore !  "  Be- 
fore long  converts  were  made  to  the  reli- 
gion of  the  cross,  and  with  conversion  came 

302 


Polynesian  Missions 

persecution  of  the  Christian  neophytes, 
who  were  pillaged  of  their  property  by  the 
heathen.  Yet  the  sufferers  bore  with  noble 
cheerfulness  ''  the  spoiling  of  their  goods." 

After  seven  months  Mr.  Hunt,  his  col- 
league, Mr.  Lyte,  and  their  two  wives,  re- 
moved to  the  island  of  Samosamo,  where 
only  one  white  man  had  ever  gone,  and  he 
a  short  time  before  had  been  barbarously 
murdered.  Their  reception  was  disheart- 
ening, and  the  scenes  which  they  were  com- 
pelled to  witness  were  appalling  in  the  ex- 
treme. 

Within  a  week  news  came  that  the  king's 
youngest  son  was  lost  at  sea.  Forthwith  an 
order  was  issued  that  sixteen  women,  some 
of  them  of  high  rank,  should  be  strangled, 
and,  despite  Hunt's  entreaties,  they  were 
put  to  death  and  then  burned  in  front  of 
the  mission  houseamid  the  blast  of  conchs 
and  the  yells  of  incarnate  demons.  Some 
months  later  eleven  men  were  dragged  with 
ropes  to  ovens  and  roasted  for  a  banquet, 
and  when  the  missionary's  wife  closed  the 
window  blinds  against  the  sight  of  the  hor- 
rid festival  the  unfuriated  natives  threat- 
ened to  burn  down  the  house  unless  they 
were  reopened.    War  canoes  were  launched 

303 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

on  living  human  bodies  as  rollers.  It  was 
considered  the  honorable  thing  for  a  wife 
to  be  strangled  when  her  husband  died. 
Sometimes  a  dozen  or  more  wives  of  a  chief 
were  thus  put  to  death  and  buried  with 
their  husband. 

In  1840  Commodore  Wilkes,  of  the 
United  States  Navy,  visited  the  island,  and 
so  deplorable  was  the  condition  of  the  mis- 
sionaries that  he  offered  to  conve}^  them 
away,  but  they  refused  to  go,  although  even 
the  chiefs  commanded  them  to  depart. 

During  this  time  the  cannibal  feasts  were 
more  frequent,  and  barbarous  ceremonies 
were  constantly  taking  place  in  the  town. 
The  ovens  were  so  near  the  mission  house 
that  the  smell  from  them  was  sickening, 
and  the  young  king  furiously  threatened  to 
kill  the  missionaries  and  their  wives  if  they 
vShut  up  their  house  to  exclude  the  horrible 
stench.  Among  all  the  perils  and  annoy- 
ances Mr.  Hunt  steadily  and  earnestly  went 
about  his  work,  always — to  use  his  favorite 
expression — "  turning  his  care  into  prayer." 

After  three  years  of  apparently  unre- 
quited toil  at  Samosamo  Mr.  Hunt  removed 
to  Viwa,  where  the  last  six  years  of  his  life 
were  spent.     Though  broken  in  health  he 

304 


Polynesian  Missions 

devoted  himself  with  increased  zeal  to  toil 
and  study,  teaching,  preaching-,  translating. 
To  him  belongs  the  honor  of  giving  the 
New  Testament  to  the  Fijians  in  their  na- 
tive tongue,  and  it  was  soon  printed  on  an 
imported  press.  He  kept  up,  also,  his  per- 
sonal studies,  reading  Greek,  Hebrew, 
Blackstone's  Commentaries,  and  English  lit- 
erature, and  writing  a  work  on  sanctifi cation, 
which  he  illustrated  in  his  own  religious 
experience. 

Such  devotion,  however,  could  not  fail  of 
its  glorious  revv^-ird.  A  great  religious 
awakening  took  place.  Among  the  con- 
verts was  the  Queen  of  Viwa.  "Her 
heart,"  says  Mr.  Hunt,  ''  seemed  literally 
to  be  broken,  and,  though  a  very  strong 
woman,  she  fainted  twice  under  the  weight 
of  a  wounded  spirit.  vShe  revived  only  to 
renew  her  strong  cries  and  tears,  so  that  it 
was  all  we  could  do  to  proceed  with  the 
service.  The  effect  soon  became  more  cren- 
eral.  Several  of  the  women  and  some  of 
the  men  literally  roared  for  the  disquietude 
of  their  hearts.  As  many  as  could  chanted 
the  7>  Dcuin.  It  was  very  affecting  to  see 
upward  of  a  hundred  Fijians,  many  of 
whom  were  a  few  years  ago  some  of  the 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

worst  cannibals  in  the  group,  and  even  in 
the  world,  chanting,  '  We  praise  thee,  O 
God ;  we  acknowledge  thee  to  be  the  Lord,' 
v/hile  their  voices  were  almost  drowned  by 
the  cries  of  broken-hearted  penitents." 

Soon  a  bitter  storm  of  persecution  burst 
on  the  Christians  of  Viwa.  The  neigh- 
boring heathen  made  relentless  war  upon 
them.  ''O,  if  you  missionaries  would  go 
away!"  they  said.  ''It  is  your  presence 
that  prevents  us  killing  them.  If  you 
would  go  away  before  long  all  these  Viwa 
people  would  be  in  the  ovens!"  ''It  is 
very  easy,"  said  the  Christians,  "  for  us  to 
come  to  Mbau  and  be  cooked ;  but  it  is  very 
difficult  to  renounce  Christianity." 

Mr.  Hunt's  continuous  toil  at  length  told 
seriously  upon  his  health.  The  man  of  iron 
strength,  who  had  come  up  to  London  from 
the  fields  of  Lincolnshire  only  twelve  years 
before,  was  evidently  dying.  Of  him,  too, 
might  it  be  truly  said,  "  The  zeal  of  thine 
house  hath  eaten  me  up."  The  converts 
from  heathenism,  with  sad  faces,  flocked  to 
the  chapel  and  prayed  earnestly  for  the 
missionary.  "  O  Lord,"  Elijah  Verani  cried 
aloud,  "  we  know  we  are  very  bad,  but 
spare  thy  servant.     If  one  must  die,  take 

30G 


Polynesian  Missions 

me  !   take  ten  of  us !   but  spare  thy  servant 
to  preach  Christ  to  the  people !  " 

As  he  neared  his  end  the  missionary 
confidently  committed  his  wife  and  babes 
to  God,  but  was  sorely  distressed  for  Fiji. 
Sobbing  as  though  in  acute  distress,  he 
cried  out,  "Lord,  bless  Fiji!  save  Fiji! 
Thou  knowest  my  soul  has  loved  Fiji ;  my 
heart  has  travailed  for  Fiji !"  Then,  grasp- 
ing his  friend  Calvert  by  the  hand,  he  ex- 
claimed again  :  *'0,  let  me  pray  once  more 
for  Fiji!  Lord,  for  Christ's  sake,  bless 
Fiji!  save  Fiji!"  Turning  to  his  mourn- 
ing wife,  he  said,  ''  If  this  be  dying,  praise 
the  Lord!"  Presently,  as  his  eyes  looked 
up  with  a  bright  joy  that  defied  death,  he 
exclaimed,  "I  want  strength  to  praise  Him 
abundantly  !"  and  with  the  note  of  triumph, 
*'  Hallelujah,"  on  his  lips,  he  joined  the 
worship  of  the  skies. 

The  next  day  his  coffin  was  borne  by  na- 
tive students  to  the  grave.  It  had  on  it  no 
emblazonry,  and  no  record  but  this: 

REV.    JOHN    HUNT, 

SLEPT    IN    JESUS,    OCTOBER   4TH,    1848, 

AGED    36   YEARS. 

The  good  work  so  auspiciously  begun  by 
Hunt  and  his  associates    has  been  carried 

307 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

on  with  o;lorious  results.  The  mission  band 
has  been  reinforced,  till,  in  1892,  there  were 
employed,  besides  about  a  score  of  European 
missionaries,  70  native  preachers,  1,126 
catechists,  2,081  local  preachers,  3,405  class 
leaders,  with  106,000  attendants  on  public 
worship,  out  of  a  population  of  120,000. 
The  people  have  erected  for  themselves 
979  chapels,  which  are  out  of  debt,  and  334 
other  preaching  places.  Every  Sunday 
there  are  1,200  pulpits  filled  by  native  Fiji 
preachers,  and  during  the  week  1,951  day 
schools  are  conducted  for  the  instruction  of 
over  38,307  scholars,  each  village  support- 
ing its  own  schools. 

In  1874  the  islands  became,  by  petition 
of  their  inhabitants,  a  crown  colony  of  Great 
Britain,  and  the  following  year  Sir  Arthur 
Gordon  was  appointed  first  governor.  The 
British  governor  receives  a  salary  of  $10,000 
a  year,  paid  by  the  colony.  One  hundred 
and  sixty  native  chiefs  are  employed  in 
administrative  capacities,  besides  33  native 
stipendiary  magistrates,  associated  with  13 
European  magistrates,  in  the  administra- 
tion of  justice. 

Fiji  abounds  in  magnificent  harbors.  In 
natural  beauty  it  is  a  perfect   '^  land  of  the 

308 


Polynesian  Missions 

lotus-eaters,"  with  volcanic  peaks  and  love- 
ly vales  covered  with  richest  vegetation. 
Among  its  products  are  cotton,  coffee,  tea, 
sugar,  sago,  cocoa,  rice,  India  rubber,  and 
spices.  The  revenue  of  the  country  in- 
creased in  four  years  from  ;^  16,433  in  1875 
to  £So,6yS  in  1880.^ 

In   1885   the  jubilee   of  Christianity  was 
celebrated    in     Fiji.       Mr.    Calvert,     then 

*  The  foreign  trade  of  these,  till  recently,  cannibal  people  in 
1891  amounted  to  £727,383,  the  exports  being  £474,334  and 
the  imports  £253,049.  There  are  in  the  colony  eleven  sugar 
mills,  which  in  1892— the  latest  figures  we  have — exported 
18,883  tons,  valued  at  over  £300,000,  Among  the  imports 
of  1892,  amounting  to  £253, 586,  were  drapery,  £48,022 — when 
the  missionaries  went  there  first  their  drapery  bill  was  a  very 
small  one  ;  meat,  £11,844  ;  breadstuffs,  £28,449  ;  fertilizers, 
£10,600;  coal.  £18,449;  ""O"  ware,  £18,889;  machinery, 
£8,251.  Other  exports  are  tea  ;  bananas,  £62,442  ;  peanuts, 
£7,074;  copra,  or  dried  kernel  of  cocoanut,  5,937  tons, 
valued  at  £49,723. 

Daring  the  year  1892  63  steamers  and  28  sailing  vessels  ar- 
rived at  the  colony,  besides  331  local  vessels,  241  of  which 
are  owned  by  natives. 

In  1892  there  passed  through  the  post  office  in  local 
correspondence  216,588  letters,  131,467  papers,  and  150,071 
book  packets;  and  in  foreign  correspondence  110,251  letters, 
94,074  papers,  and  8,967  book  packets. 

This  moral  elevation,  these  churches  and  schools,  these 
many  thousands  of  changed  lives  and  happy  deaths  are  the 
direct  result  of  Christian  missions,  and  this  wonderful 
development  of  commerce  and  civilization,  perhaps,  is  a 
scarcely  less  direct  consequence. 
309 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

seventy- two  years  of  age,  left  England  to 
attend  it.  Referring  to  this  visit  he  said : 
*'In  1835,  when  the  Mission  commenced, 
there  was  not  a  single  Christian  in  Fiji.  In 
1885  there  was  not  an  avowed  heathen  in 
all  the  inhabited  islands.  Out  of  a  popula- 
tion of  110,000,  104,585  were  attendants  on 
public  worship.  Now  marriage  is  sacred, 
family  worship  regularly  conducted,  schools 
are  everywhere  established,  law  and  good 
government  firmly  laid,  and  spiritual 
churches  formed  and  prosperous.  The 
language  has  been  reduced  to  written  form 
and  made  one,  doing  away  with  the  plague 
of  many  dialects.  Eight  thousand  copies 
of  the  Bible  in  two  editions  and  fifty  thou- 
sand of  the  New  Testament  have  been  pur- 
chased. Catechisms,  with  Scripture  proofs. 
Banyan's  Pilgrini  s  Progress,  and  three  edi- 
tions of  John  Hunt's  invaluable  CJiristian 
Theology  have  been  widely  circulated.  We 
had  no  night  of  toil.  God  was  with  us  from 
the  beginning,  and  ever  confirmed  his  word 
with  signs  following.  These  converts  were 
whole-hearted,  and  very  true  and  faithful. 
Their  thorough  change  of  heart,  wrought 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  was  manifest  to  all. 
They   became    living    epistles,    read    and 

310 


Polynesian  Missions 

known  and  felt  by  all  who  knew  them. 
This  personal  Christian  experience  told 
amazingly  among  the  dark  and  simple- 
minded  Fijians,  and  it  tells  everywhere. 
The  Fijian  Church  is  also  continually  send- 
ing native  missionaries  to  other  distant 
lands  to  preach  Christ  in  other  tongues. 
This  many  of  them  do  successfully." 

Levuka,  the  capital  of  Fiji,  has  three 
handsome  European  churches,  a  govern- 
ment house,  supreme  court,  Masonic,  Good 
Templars',  and  Odd  Fellows'  halls,  Me- 
chanics' Institute,  club  room,  bank,  two  tri- 
weekly papers,  stores,  hotels,  and — another 
sign  of  civilization — a  single  cab. 

Many  are  the  testimonies  given  as  to  the 
success  of  the  Wesleyan  missions  by  persons 
in  no  wise  prejudiced  in  their  favor.  One 
of  the  most  striking  of  these  is  the  follow- 
ing, by  the  chaplain  of  the  British  man-of- 
war  Brisk,  as  to  the  success  of  Fiji  missions : 

**  Never  was  I  so  much  impressed,"  he 
says,  "  w^th  the  power  of  divine  truth  as 
when  I  stood  in  the  midst  of  a  native  con- 
gregation at  Bau  of  over  seven  hundred ; 
the  king,  seated  in  a  dignified  manner  in 
an  armchair,  with  his  large  Bible  before 
him ;  the  queen,  the  finest  specimen  of  '  the 

311 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

human  face  divine '  that  I  ever  saw,  in  a 
conspicuous  place  among  the  women ;  and 
heard  the  Gospel  preached  by  a  native  min- 
ister, and  the  accents  of  their  praise  ascend- 
ing on  high  like  the  voice  of  many  waters. 
The  church  is  a  large  native  building, 
capable  of  holding  one  thousand  persons, 
and  displays  great  ingenuity  in  its  style  of 
architecture.  It  is  situated  within  a  few 
yards  of  the  ruins  of  an  old  heathen  tem- 
ple, where  human  sacrifices  were  wont  to 
be  offered  to  the  gods  previous  to  their 
being  cooked  and  eaten.  The  ovens  which 
were  used  for  this  revolting  purpose  of 
cooking  the  victims  are  still  to  be  seen, 
filled  with  earth,  and  quite  close  to  the 
church." 

But  the  fullest  testimony  is  that  of  Miss 
C.  F.  Gordon  Gumming,  a  lady  of  celebrit}^ 
as  a  traveler  and  author,  who,  by  invita- 
tion, accompanied  Sir  Arthur  and  Lady 
Gordon  as  a  member  of  their  family.  Miss 
Gumming  spent  two  years  in  Fiji,  during 
which  time  she  explored  most  of  the  inhab- 
ited islands,  mingled  freely  with  the  people 
in  their  homes  and  at  social  and  public 
gatherings,  and  was  a  careful  observer  of 
their  cUvStoms,   manners,   and  morals.     She 

812 


Polynesian  Missions 

vividly  describes  the  wonderful  transition 
which  has  ensued  from  the  most  savage 
barbarism  to  Christian  civilization  by  the 
introduction  of  the  Gospel. 

'•Strange,  indeed,"  she  writes,  ''is  the 
change  that  has  come  over  these  isles  since 
first  the  Wesleyan  missionaries  landed  here 
in  1835,  resolved,  at  the  hazard  of  their 
lives,  to  bring  the  light  of  Christianity  to 
these  ferocious  cannibals.  Imagine  the 
faith  and  courage  of  the  two  white  men, 
without  any  visible  protection,  landing  in 
the  midst  of  these  bloodthirsty  hordes, 
whose  unknown  language  they  had  in  the 
first  instance  to  master,  and  day  after  day 
witnessing  such  scenes  as  chills  one's  blood 
to  hear  about.  Many  such  have  been  de- 
scribed to  me  by  eyewitnesses.  Slow  and 
disheartening  was  their  labor  for  many 
years ;  yet  so  well  has  that  little  leaven 
worked  that,  with  the  exception  of  Kai 
Tholos,  the  wild  highlanders  who  still  hold 
out  in  the  mountain  fastnesses,  the  inhab- 
ited isles  have  all  abjured  cannibalism  and 
other  frightful  customs,  and  have  lotutcd 
(that  is,  embraced  Christianity)  in  such  good 
earnest  as  may  well    put  to   shame  many 

more  civilized  nations. 
;n3 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

*'  I  often  wish  that  some  of  the  cavilers 
who  are  forever  sneering-  at  Christian  mis- 
sions could  see  some  of  their  results  in  these 
isles.  But  first  they  w^ould  have  to  recall 
the  Fiji  of  ten  years  ago,  when  every  man's 
hand  was  against  his  neighbor  and  the 
land  had  no  rest  from  intertribal  wars,  in 
vvdiich  the  foe,  without  respect  of  age  or 
sex,  were  looked  upon  only  in  the  light  of 
so  much  beef — the  prisoners  deliberately  fat- 
tened for  the  slaughter ;  limbs  cut  off  from 
living  men  and  women  and  cooked  and 
eaten  in  the  presence  of  the  victim,  who  had 
previously  been  compelled  to  dig  the  oven 
and  cut  the  firewood  for  the  purpose ;  and 
this,  not  in  time  of  war,  when  such  atrocity 
might  be  deemed  less  inexcusable,  but  in 
time  of  peace,  to  gratify  the  caprice  or  ap- 
petite of  the  moment. 

' '  Think  of  the  sick  buried  alive ;  the  ar- 
ray of  widows  who  were  deliberately  stran- 
gled on  the  death  of  any  great  man  ;  the 
living  victims  who  were  buried  beside  every 
post  of  a  chief's  house,  and  must  needs 
stand  clasping  it  while  the  earth  was  gradu- 
ally heaped  over  their  devoted  heads;  a 
time  when  there  was  not  the  vslightest  se- 
curity for  life  or  property,  and  no  man  knew 

314 


Polynesian  Missions 

how  quickly  his  own  hour  of  doom  might 
come;  when  whole  villages  were  depopu- 
lated simply  to  supply  their  neighbors  with 
fresh  meat ! 

''Just  think  of  all  this  and  of  tlic  change 
that  has  been  wrought,  and  then  just  imag- 
ine white  men  who  can  sneer  at  missionary 
work  in  the  way  they  do.  Now  you  can 
pass  from  isle  to  isle,  certain  everywhere  to 
find  the  same  cordial  reception  by  kindly 
men  and  women.  Every  village  on  the 
lightly  inhabited  isles  has  built  for  itself  a 
tidy  church  and  a  good  house  for  its  teacher 
or  native  minister,  for  whom  the  village 
also  provides  food  and  clothing.  Can  you 
realize  that  there  are  nine  hundred  Wesleyan 
churches  in  Fiji,  at  every  one  of  which  the 
frequent  services  are  crowded  by  devout 
congregations;  that  the  schools  are  well 
attended,  and  that  the  first  sound  that  greets 
your  ear  at  dawn  and  the  last  at  night  is 
that  of  hymn  singing  and  most  fervent  wor- 
ship rising  from  each  dwelling  at  the  hour 
of  family  prayer?" 

One  great  chief  after  another  was  con- 
verted, but  the  most  remarkable  of  all  was 
the  conversion  of  King  Thakombaw,  the 
powerful  monarch  of  Fiji.    Captain  Erskinc, 

ol5 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

of  Her  Majesty's  steamship  HavannaJi,  who 
visited  Fiji  in  1849,  "^^^^^  describes  Tha- 
kombaw :  *  *  It  was  impossible  not  to  admire 
the  appearance  of  the  chief.  Of  large,  al- 
most gigantic  size,  his  limbs  were  beauti- 
fully formed  and  proportioned.  His  coun- 
tenance, with  far  less  of  the  Negro  cast  than 
among  the  lower  orders,  was  agreeable  and 
intelligent.  In  1857  he  was  publicly  bap- 
tized. He  had  been  requested  to  address 
the  assembly  after  his  baptism.  He  did  so. 
What  a  congregation  he  had!  Widows 
whose  husbands  he  had  slain  ;  people  whose 
relatives  had  been  strangled  by  his  orders ; 
those  whose  friends  he  had  eaten  ;  and  chil- 
dren, the  descendants  of  people  he  had 
murdered,  and  who  had  vowed  to  avenge 
the  wrongs  inflicted  on  their  fathers.  A 
thousand  stony  hearts  heaved  with  fear  and 
astonishment  as  Thakombaw  said : 

**'I  have  been  a  bad  man.  The  mis- 
sionaries came  and  invited  me  to  embrace 
Christianity,  but  I  said,  "I  will  continue  to 
fight."  God  has  singularly  preserved  my 
life.  I  desire  to  acknowledge  him  as  the 
only  and  the  true  God.  I  have  scourged  the 
world.' 

*'  He  was  deeply  affected,  and  spoke  with 

316 


Polynesian  Missions 

great  diffidence.  He  showed  his  sincerity 
by  dismissing  his  many  wives  and  publicly 
marrying  the  chief  one,  Andi  Lydia  Sa- 
manunu.  From  this  time  he  took  no  retro- 
grade step.  His  thirst  for  knowledge  grew, 
and  the  touching  spectacle  was  often  wit- 
nessed of  his  efforts  to  learn  to  read,  taught 
by  his  own  little  children.  The  Rev.  J. 
Nettleton,  who  was  his  chaplain  for  seven 
years,  said  he  never  met  with  a  more  de- 
voted, earnest,  and  consistent  Christian.  He 
died  in  1883,  and  the  Fijian  Times,  a  secu- 
lar paper,  said :  '  His  influence  on  the  side 
of  Christianity  and  of  good  in  general  has 
been  greater  than  that  of  any  chief  or  com- 
bination of  chiefs  throughout  the  islands. 
Since  his  conversion  and  baptism  he  has  led 
a  worthy  life,  and,  eminent  before  for 
tyranny,  licentiousness,  and  disregard  of 
human  life,  he  has  since  been  free  from  re- 
proach, chaste  in  conduct,  and  considerate 
of  the  people !  '  " 

The  conversion  of  Fiji  was  preeminently 
God's  work — the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
The  work  at  Ono  was  a  remarkable  in- 
stance of  this.  Ono  is  the  chief  island  of  a 
group  situated  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 

south  of  Lakemba,  and  the  most  southerly 
21  317 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

extremity  of  Fiji.  Without  any  prompting 
except  that  which  must  have  come  from 
God's  good  Spirit,  these  people  began  to 
grope  from  their  own  deep  heathen  dark- 
ness toward  the  light : 

"  An  infant  crying  in  the  night. 
An  infant  crying  for  the  light, 
And  with  no  language  but  a  cry." 

In  1835,  about  the  same  time  that  the 
Mission  to  Fiji  was  commenced,  a  desire 
arose  among  these  people  for  better  gods 
than  they  had.  One  of  their  chiefs  had 
heard  from  a  Friendly  Islander  that  there 
was  but  one  God,  and  that  one  day  in  seven 
ought  to  be  set  apart  for  his  worship.  As 
soon  as  this  news  reached  them  they  deter- 
mined to  worship  this  unknown  God.  A 
difficulty  arose  as  to  who  should  officiate  for 
them.  In  their  dilemma  they  sent  for  the 
heathen  priest.  Moved  either  by  fear  or 
compassion  or  honor,  he  consented,  and 
asked  this  new  God  to  keep  and  bless  the 
people,  at  the  same  time  acknowledging 
that  he  himself  worshiped  a  different  god 
and  that  he  was  only  acting  as  spokesman 
for  his  neighbors.  This  kind  of  worship 
continued,  while  the  longing  for  more  knowl- 
edge grew  upon  them  every  day. 

818 


Polynesian  Missions 

It  was  a  long  time  before  their  wishes  for 
a  teacher  could  be  made  known.  A  storm 
drove  a  boat  full  of  Tongans,  returning 
home,  far  out  of  their  course.  They  landed 
on  an  island  fifty  miles  from  Ono.  One  of 
them  was  a  Christian,  and  when  he  heard 
of  what  was  going  on  at  Ono  went  there 
and  taught  them  what  he  knew.  When  a 
regular  Christian  teacher  reached  them  he 
found  one  hundred  and  twenty  persons  who 
had  renounced  heathenism.  The  work 
spread  on  every  hand.  The  missionaries 
bore  testimony  that  ' '  of  all  the  work  in 
Fiji  that  at  Ono  has  been  the  most  perma- 
nent and  successful.  More  native  teachers 
have  been  raised  in  proportion  to  the  popu- 
lation than  in  any  of  the  other  islands." 

The  genuine  and  sturdy  character  of  the 
religion  of  these  Fijian  converts  has  proved 
itself  on  many  signal  occasions.  Manfully 
have  many  of  them  endured  persecution, 
exile,  and  death  rather  than  compromise 
their  principles.  Forty  native  Fijians  have 
gone  as  missionaries  to  New  Guinea,  a  land 
more  degraded  than  even  their  own  had 
been,  and  through  their  labors  two  thou- 
sand three  hundred  of  the  inhabitants  be- 
came Christians.     The   Fijians  make  good 

319 


The  Picket  Line  of  Missions 

missionaries;  difficulties  do  not  dishearten 
nor  perils  affright  them.  Where  one  falls 
tinder  the  club  of  a  savage — and  many  have 
so  fallen — others  are  ready  to  take  up  his 
work  and  proclaim  to  his  murderers  both 
the  law  and  the  Gospel. 

In  1877  M^-  Brov/n,  a  Wesleyan  mission- 
ary, with  nine  native  Fiji  preachers  (seven 
of  them  married,  and  accompanied  by  their 
wives),  sailed  in  the  Mission  brig  John 
Wesley  to  carry  to  the  savages  of  New 
Britain  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  Before  they 
sailed  the  British  consul  remonstrated  with 
them  on  the  peril  of  the  attempt,  but  they 
replied,  ''We  know  the  danger;  we  are 
willing  to  go.  If  we  get  killed,  well ;  if  we 
live,  well." 

News  was  soon  received  that  four  of  them 
were  eaten,  and  that  their  wives  and  little 
ones  were  threatened  with  a  similar  fate. 
''These  distressing  tidings,"  says  Miss 
Gordon  Gumming,  "  reached  Fiji  just  as  a 
fresh  detachment  of  teachers  was  about  to 
start  for  New  Britain.  Their  determina- 
tion was  in  no  degree  shaken.  One  of  them 
expressed  the  determination  of  them  all 
when  he  said,  '  If  the  people  kill  and  eat 
my  body  I  shall  go  to  a  place  where  there 

320 


Polynesian  Missions 

is  no  more  pain  or  death;  it  is  all  right.' 
One  of  the  wives  was  asked  whether  she 
still  intended  to  accompany  her  husband  to 
a  scene  of  so  great  danger.  She  replied, 
*  I  am  like  the  outrigger  of  a  canoe — where 
the  canoe  goes,  there  you  will  surely  find 
the  outrigger !  '  Brave  helpmeets,  these  !  " 
Bishop  Walsh,  a  prelate  of  the  Anglican 
Church,  pays  this  generous  tribute  to  the 
lowly  Lincolnshire  plowman  whose  life  and 
work  we  have  sketched  :  ' '  Fiji  is  not  only 
a  gem  in  the  British  crown,  but  a  precious 
jewel  in  the  missionary  diadem;  and  to 
John  Hunt,  above  all  other  men,  belongs 
the  honor  of  having  placed  it  there !  " 


THE  END. 

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